Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

Allow me to finish. There has been a lot of focus on the teachers who will lose their positions as a result of the changes introduced by the Minister. I will declare my interest. My wife is one of the teachers who will lose her position. The Minister is correct. No teacher will lose his or her job. The new recruits from Marino and St. Pat's will not be able to get a job as a result of what the Minister decision.

I want to speak about the many children throughout rural Ireland who will be most disadvantaged because of the Minister's decision. I do not want to focus on the slagging matches between the political parties about what this or that Government proposed to do. We need to focus on children's futures. I have two young boys in junior and senior infants in primary school. I hope to have other children who will follow them. Their school is fantastic. For ten years it was run down and on the schools building programme. Last year it got a €1.3 million injection. In September a closed sign will go on one of the newly refurbished state-of-the-art classrooms because the number of teachers will be reduced from four to three. There are many other similar schools.

I could tell the House about investments in schools in the Donegal Gaeltacht and other areas which have meant additional classrooms being built, only to have them close next September. This is about the future of children. In his speech to Minister said the only thing changing for small schools is that their average class sizes will no longer be as advantageous as they have been in the past. That is not true. My son and the sons and daughters of many other mothers and fathers will be in larger classrooms and have multiple classes as a result of the changes. It is not just about advantageous numbers.

Under the changes to the staffing schedule, by 2014 the Minister wants a two teacher school to have 28 pupils in each classroom. The figures for retention will be a total of 56, a class of 28 class and a class of 27. The teacher will have to stand up every day before 28 children, including those in junior infants, senior infants, first-class and second class, try to teach a jam-packed curriculum and hope the children will have the same opportunities as others. This is wrong. In a three teacher school, two classes will be made up of 28 pupils and one of 29. In my constituency 31 out of 42 primary schools will be adversely affected by the changes proposed by the Minister. It is not just teachers who will lose their positions, children will also lose the 0.2% learning support that has been allocated.

The Labour Party said it had to make these cuts because of budgetary constraints. I, more than most, know the difficulties this country faces in making a saving of €15 million over a full year. There are other ways to make savings. Every year €15 million leaves the State and goes to the European space programme to send people to the moon. I would rather we allowed our children to attend rural schools. It would be money more wisely spent and it would allow teachers to do what they are educated to do, namely, provide education for our young people to build the knowledge economy and help kickstart the economy.

The Minister asked for a conversation. The previous Minister, Mary Coughlan, started the review of small rural schools but the Minister has not waited for it. He has shown complete disrespect and pre-empted it. He makes no bones about the fact he wants to see small rural schools amalgamate. There are reasons small rural schools will close, such as a lack of pupils or shifting demographics which is the normal course. The Minister should not introduce policies that force small rural schools to consider amalgamation. He should be nurturing children and education.

These policies are regrettable. The Minister and his party have a proud track record - I use the term "record" very carefully because the decisions they have implemented in this budget are disastrous - in education in the past. The Minister is rolling back on the DEIS proposals. What the Minister is doing to rural schools is wrong and I ask him to reconsider.

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