Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to contribute in this important debate on class size. I support the motion, the INTO, parents and children. Class size matters. Education is the future of this country. Our primary school children did not cause the economic crisis and they should not be penalised. At public meetings last night in Airfield in my new constituency and last week in Clontarf, I gave a public commitment that I would support this motion.

Primary school children are an important part of the future. Most hard-nosed economists accept that education is one of the ways that we will get out of this mess. When I started teaching in primary school, there were 45 children in my class. Just before I got elected in 2002, there were 20 pupils. This made a major difference in terms of literacy, self-esteem, more attention for pupils, a better service, reading groups and so on.

At 24 pupils per class, Ireland's classes are the second most crowded in the EU. The EU average is 20 per class. In June, the OECD stated that 9.4% of Government spending was on education compared with 13.% in 2000. The average EU spend is 13%. This is the reality of what is happening in education. The Minister should consider the value of education, the country's future and our children and not go near class sizes.

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