Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As many others in this House have done, I represent some very unhappy parents and children in fee-paying schools. They are unhappy because they see the pupil-teacher ratio being raised to 23:1 in September, with the intention of another increase - possibly to 27:1 - by 2015, and because they see themselves as victims of an ideological policy that makes no sense and a Labour Party plan, based only on ideology, to remove all public funding from private schools as soon as possible.

The idea that private schools are necessarily the privilege of the elite is not always true. In some cases it is true that only some people can afford it, but in many other cases parents make great sacrifices. They save, scrimp and do not do things other parents do in order to educate their children in the way they feel is best for them. This is particularly true in schools that have a different ethos from the majority. I am referring to Church of Ireland schools and schools of other religions and denominations. In these cases, parents feel that because that they have such little choice, they must send their children to schools where that ethos is predominant. Twenty out of the 55 affected schools are fee-paying and they feel they are being discriminated against. What we need is an assurance from the Minister that they are not threatened and will not be treated in this way and that fee-paying parents are making a contribution to the State. If this trend continues, the State will be landed with more expense rather than less.

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