John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)

I am privileged albeit a little nervous to speak on this matter. Sometimes we come in here and speak about things somewhat outside, whereas today I am speaking about something close and personal. I put it to the Sinn Féin Party that it is not the only party with a monopoly on what poverty looks and smells like. We do too. As a Labour Party member I am aware of what poverty looks like, especially as someone who has grown up in Ballymun and who has chosen to live there. I attended what would be today a DEIS school and the children of my brothers and sisters attend DEIS schools. I know what that is like. I have spoken to the Minister and brought back to him what I have heard not only from listening to teachers but from people who I know, including my neighbours, whose children also attend DEIS schools.

The DEIS system does transform the lives of the children who go to these schools. Along with the legacy posts that went before which were referred to earlier, it has offered a chance to break the cycle in these communities. The first Member from Ballymun is standing here tonight discussing the matter. The type of work DEIS schools carry out allows this to take place. For the first time we are seeing children from Ballymun and Finglas reaching the national literacy levels at the same age as children from the rest of the country. This is because of the commitment of the extra resources that the DEIS system brings to these schools. We cannot afford to do anything to stop it. We must continue to break the cycle.

Ultimately, this is about giving people a fair chance. It is about allowing people to reach their full potential and to allow them perhaps to have a sufficient level of literacy so that when they attend secondary school they are able to read properly and engage with school and not act out and end up outside the classroom. This is what DEIS system does. It transforms the lives of the individuals who access these programmes and attend these schools. In addition, it transforms the families and ultimately the communities.

As the Minister and everyone here is aware, the work DEIS has done and that of the projects that went before it cannot be described on paper. However, we must continue what we are doing at the current levels. I spoke to the Minister about this beforehand. I will support the amendment to the motion because there is spirit in the words of the last paragraph, which resolve to examine and review what DEIS offers at the moment.

I sound one word of caution. I hope that the review will allow the schools that are delivering a top quality service to continue. The additional teachers in place are not dossing, they are probably working more hours than teachers in other schools but not getting the pay. They earn their pay because some of these teachers have been working in these schools for years. They are in the tough schools earning their bucks. They work more than they should because they are committed. These teachers come to us because they believe in the children. It is not about having an extra teacher in the school so that one can sit in the staff room drinking tea. It is about delivering as much as they can at whatever scale they can and to serve the needs before them.

We are all aware that the needs in these schools are acute. The most difficult children are in these schools. However, the great thing is that when the resources are put in place one can transform this and this is what DEIS system is doing.

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