Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

I acknowledge what the Minister said in his speech about the reality of the situation he inherited. He has discussed savings. The previous Government had two schemes which, in the minds of many teachers, were a complete waste of money. One is the €5.6 million that went into setting up the Teaching Council which teachers did not want and the other was the money wasted on the supervision and substitution scheme.

Education is not being well served in the budget. DEIS schools were mentioned and the Minister acknowledged certain mistakes in that regard. There are issues with guidance counsellors, postgraduate students and now small schools. It is a particular issue for rural areas but there are also small schools in urban areas. It is retrograde to target small schools because they have been progressive in providing an excellent education.

There is a spread of population issue for many schools located in rural areas, particularly on the islands, and they cannot be penalised for that. While they tend to have a better pupil teacher ratio, that has to be balanced with the spread and challenge posed by one teacher teaching varying ages in one classroom. I am all for change if what is in place is not working but what is happening in schools works, and one sees that from the school evaluations and websites. Some are gaelscoileanna and others are schools in Gaeltacht areas, others are island Gaeltacht schools. We are also talking about undermining the work they do in promoting the Irish language and continuing its use.

If the population in an island school is very small, one teacher could be teaching a class with an age range from four years to 12 or 13 years. What was the extent of the consultation with parents and teachers in those schools? Where is the proof that closing them would save money? The small schools value for money review was mentioned. At what stage is that and why did the Minister not wait for it to be published before these decisions were made?.

Small schools in the Gaeltacht and on the islands are more than schools, they are central to the community and to ensuring community life will continue. The amendment states this has to do with the allocation of teaching posts and is not a measure to close small schools. Reducing the number of teachers will mean small schools will not be viable and will close. If a school in a community is closed, it will affect more than just the school because schools are central to community life.

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