Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

One cannot fix a problem until one knows its extent. The message I am getting from many schools is that the cuts are doubly unfair, given that they are outside the DEIS club. I thought the matter of legacy posts had been resolved following the climbdown or review that was promised. All of us in the House accept that the DEIS programme is working. Why wreck a system when that is the case in order to remove legacy posts? Schools are dealing with major problems of disadvantage. The figures from the Department indicate that the DEIS programme is working in terms of the outcomes achieved whereby children move on to further education. The literacy and numeracy strategy is a key component of the approach required. The outcomes for DEIS schools are much more positive than they had been. If the Minister takes away the resources, we will be pulling down the house that has been built.

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