Debate resumed on amendment No. 2:To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:“recognises that:- the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 'Education at a Glance' survey from 2013, relating to the 2010 year, reports that the State was investing 6.4 per cent of GDP in education, compared to an OECD average of 6.3 per cent, while current spending on third-level education in Ireland amounts to 1.6 per cent of GDP, equal to the OECD average of 1.6 per cent; and - education services have been protected despite the immense challenges posed to the financial sustainability of our nation;welcomes:- the fact that the 2012 'Report on Retention Rates of Pupils in Second Level Schools', published by the Department of Education and Skills, found that over 90 per cent of all students in Ireland now stay in school to sit the Leaving Certificate; - that this shows that the proportion of early school leavers in Ireland is considerably below the EU average of 14 per cent; - the fact that retention rates in Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) schools have particularly improved, rising from 68 per cent to over 80 per cent over a five-year period, and that studies from the Department's Inspectorate and from the Educational Research Centre have shown improvements in pupils' literacy in DEIS primary schools; and - the fact that Irish fourth class pupils were placed among the countries performing significantly above the international average in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study tests conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, and that the Irish fourth class pupils were among the top performers in Progress in International Reading Literacy 2011 tests;notes that under the present Government a range of new initiatives have been introduced to protect the quality of our education system and the well-being of our young people, which include:- reform of the Junior Cycle; - an action plan to combat bullying in schools; - the implementation of a major restructuring of initial teacher education provision; - the creation and report of a Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector; - a review of the system of apprenticeships in Ireland; - significant reform of school inspection and the introduction of school self-evaluation; - the roll-out of new guidelines for schools on mental health promotion and suicide prevention; - a new landscape for the higher education sector, and implementation of the National Higher Education Strategy to 2030; and - the publication of the Draft General Scheme of an Education (Admission to Schools)Bill 2013 which will ensure fairness and transparency in school admissions;further welcomes:- the fact that €12 million has been set aside by this Government since 2011 for the roll-out of a new national literacy and numeracy strategy, which is designed to help ensure that every child who leaves school has the literacy and numeracy skills they will need for the rest of their lives, and that a further €9 million has been invested in the same period for other related activities including standardised testing and the Junior Certificate Schools Programme; - the provision of free high-speed broadband to every post-primary school in Ireland by September 2014, at a cost of up to €40 million by 2015, paid for by the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; - the protection by this Government of the standard pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools and free post-primary schools since taking office; - the ring-fencing of an investment of €1.3 billion to support children with special educational needs in the education sector; - the consolidation of the Vocational Education Committees sector as local Education and Training Boards, and the replacement of FÁS with SOLAS, an agency that will be empowered to lead a coherent, high-quality further education and training sector in Ireland; - the inclusion in the Further Education and Training Act 2013 of a requirement for SOLAS to develop a strategy for the promotion and development of adult literacy and numeracy; - the investment of over €2 billion during the lifetime of this Government in school building projects, creating an estimated 15,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs over the period of the programme; - in particular, the investment by this Government of €57 million to date to replace prefabricated structures with permanent school classrooms, which will reduce the prefab rental bill by 25 per cent each year; and - the creation of new training, further and higher education programmes, such as Springboard and Momentum, which have so far provided over 23,000 unemployed people with educational opportunities closely linked to areas where employment opportunities exist.” - (Minister for Education and Skills).

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