Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom ar dtús mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le mo chomhghleacaí, an Teachta O'Brien, as ucht an rún tábhachtach seo a chur os ár gcomhair. This comprehensive and detailed motion starkly illustrates the raft of cuts that have impacted on the State education sector. Our motion gives the lie to claims by Fine Gael and especially the Labour Party. It is a pity that the two Labour Deputies most critical of Sinn Féin have scurried out of the Chamber in case they might hear something that would put the record straight. Perhaps they might bother to read the Official Report afterwards to see exactly what is the situation.

Fine Gael and Labour have not prioritised education since coming to power two and a half years ago as they claimed they would. Their predecessor, Fianna Fáil, could not even come up with a counter-motion or an amendment beyond the three lines it produced in response to our detailed proposal. It highlights that party's discomfort in dealing with education given what it did when in government and the atrocious effect of its punitive and regressive cuts which have greatly impacted on every facet of our education system. When the people elected a new government in the hope that some of those cuts would be reversed, they did not expect that they would be compounded, as has happened since the Government came into office.

We have heard the usual ignorant bleating by some Government backbenchers - mainly Labour, but also Fine Gael. Deputies Nolan and Spring do not want the facts to get in the way of the fiction contained in the internal Labour Party briefing that is circulated in advance of any Sinn Féin motion. They are ignorant of the facts and have never taken an interest in what is happening in the Six Counties except to have a go at Sinn Féin. It is a pity they did not take the same interest over the years because the island might be considerably further down the road if they had. There is a substantial drop in the school-going population in the Six Counties in contrast with what is happening in this State. No school in the Six Counties is closed without six criteria being agreed with the parents, the local board of management and the Department, whereas in this State the only criterion used to close a school is financial. They are being closed on that basis and on that basis alone.

The previous speaker mentioned Nelson Mandela. God love him, he obviously does not understand what Nelson Mandela meant in saying that education is the most important weapon. If it is the most important weapon to deal with the future, the Government should invest in it, and it should not reduce investment in it unless its purpose is to undermine the education system.

Let me put the record straight on finances in the Six Counties. The Stormont Assembly does not have fiscal power and has never had it because of the failure of Fianna Fáil-led governments to deal with that issue, to lobby for it, to demand it and campaign for it during the Good Friday Agreement talks or subsequently. It never called for a transfer of fiscal powers. If it had, we might have it and we might be closer to reunification on this island. Maybe then decisions could be taken in the interest of the Irish people with a budget in mind. Instead, at the moment, the Assembly is hamstrung by decisions taken by a Tory Government in Westminster. Unlike the slash and burn policies of the Government, the Minister, Mr. John O'Dowd has redirected almost £400 million back into schools despite his own budget being drastically reduced as a result of British Tory Party cuts.

Another fact that seems to elude the Labour Party internal briefing document - and the Fine Gael one given that Deputy Buttimer mentioned it - is that the Minister, Mr. John O'Dowd has no responsibility for further education and third level education, which falls to a different Minister. Criticism does not lie on the lap of the Minister, Mr. John O'Dowd, on this occasion. If they want to criticise somebody they should get the facts right.

The pivotal role the three Sinn Féin Ministers, who were mentioned by Deputy Spring, have played in the North is shown by the 10% increase in the number of young people achieving good grades in the GCSE O-level and A-level examinations and the substantial increase in the number of young people gaining third level and university qualifications. In addition, primary schools in the North have now been ranked as the top performing in the English-speaking world in literacy and numeracy. Those achievements should be contrasted with what is happening throughout this State where the imposition of countless cuts in pay, allowances and essential supports can be attributed to the Government's austerity measures that have directly impacted in the classroom. We are seeing the effects of it in increased numbers of students dropping out from schools in working-class areas in particular.

On this point alone, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and his Government colleagues could learn much from the approach being taken to improve education in the Six Counties. I mention two examples, the expansion of the free school meals system and changes to the school uniform grant criteria. Some 100,000 low-income families now benefit from these essential supports. That 100,000 can be contrasted with the fact that when direct rule was in place only 60,000 benefited.

Funding has been increased for schools dealing with high numbers of disadvantaged young people.

For example, at preschool level the Sure Start service currently benefits more than 34,000 children aged between zero and four years. It will be significantly expanded in the coming year. Fully £15.6 million will be provided over the next three years for 267 graduate teachers to provide additional help to pupils who are at risk of underachievement in the key stage two assessment and the GCSE English and mathematics subjects. In the next two years a total of £2 million will be spent on new community education initiatives and programmes to address high levels of educational underachievement in socially and economically disadvantaged communities.

I turn now to this State and the absolute failure and the consequences of the cuts that it has imposed. The area on which I wish to concentrate is the plight of Traveller children. Their treatment at the hands of this Government and its predecessors is a damning indictment of those Administrations. I demonstrate this by putting on the record the facts as they pertain to schools in my area in Ballyfermot, because these reflect exactly what is happening to Travellers in schools.

Between 2006 and 2011 St. Dominic's Secondary School managed to achieve 100% retention of members of the Travelling community who attended, with three members of the Travelling community progressing to further education following successful completion of the leaving certificate programme, something unheard of several years ago. The primary schools have been successful in retaining the boys to the end of first class, at which point they transfer to the De La Salle National School, which has attained full retention of the girls to the end of primary school, at which point they have successfully transferred to St. Dominic's secondary school. That success has been due to commitment from a number of partners, including the school community, school management, the visiting teacher for Travellers, the resource teacher for Travellers, guidance counsellors, classroom co-ordinators, Barnardos, the Ballyfermot Traveller action programme and the teachers and pupils themselves. However, what has happened since 2011? That was the key date. Since then they have lost the visiting teacher for Travellers, the resource teacher for Travellers and the Barnardos Labre Park project. There are diminished resources in terms of support programmes from other groups such as the Ballyfermot Traveller action programme. There is increased poverty and alienation in the Traveller community and decreasing health and mental health among students and their parents. This has an impact on their attendance as well.

There is an issue with Traveller boys not being in school, and this has a direct impact on the girls in Traveller communities who are more successful or who continue for longer in school. All of this has resulted in an increased dropout level and lower retention of children. This is not only the case in secondary school; we are now beginning to see it in primary school also. Currently there are no Traveller students attending school within the senior cycle and that represents a dramatic change in the space of two years. This is a consequence of the policies of this and the previous Government.

There are consequences in terms of attendance. Attendance is 11% lower for students from the Traveller community in primary schools. Attendance is 21% lower for Traveller students in the junior cycle attending secondary school. This is not particular to Travellers, in case anyone suggests I am picking one group in our society over another. It is also seen and reflected among working-class communities, those who are disadvantaged and in particular those who do not have the benefit of having parents who went on to do the junior or leaving certificate. Often these people are dependent on social welfare and have been affected by the DEIS cuts and other cuts in education, including those listed in the amendment. There is a need to continue to break the cycle of poverty. One of the ways to break the cycle of poverty, as Nelson Mandela said, is to educate people. If we fail to invest properly in education, fail to address people's needs and fail to address poverty in the future, we condemn young children in our society to a life of poverty, unemployment and isolation, or, in some cases, no life at all, because they end up taking their lives through suicide because they have no hope.

The organisation that advocates on behalf of the Traveller community, Pavee Point, released a document earlier this year called Travelling with Austerity. It highlighted that the cut to Traveller education is of the scale of minus 86%. This is an absolute scandal, and when added to all the other cuts that have affected this marginalised part of a society, it is a damning indictment of the Government.

Casfaidh mé anois ar feadh tamaill beag ar cheist eile atá ardaithe agam sa Teach seo cúpla uair thar na blianta. Tá gá anois, agus bhí i gcónaí, níos mó tacaíochta a thabhairt do Ghaelscoileanna agus do scoileanna Gaeltachta ná a thabhairt do ghnáthscoileanna eile. Tá fadhbanna agus dúshláin breise acu toisc go bhfuil siad ag obair i dtír ina bhfuil an Béarla chun cinn. Níl na háiseanna nó na téacsleabhair céanna ar fáil dóibh, mar atá sna scoileanna Béarla. Ba chóir cás speisialta a dhéanamh dóibh de bharr na deacrachtaí sin, agus an t-athrú a dhein an Rialtas maidir leis an gcóimheas daltaí le múinteoir i nGaelscoileanna a athrú ar ais. Ba cheart an buntáiste a bhí ann a athbhunú chun a chinntiú nach mbeidh na Gaelscoileanna agus na scoileanna Gaeltachta thíos leis.

I have said that it is important to invest in the future and in our children. We lay the groundwork through investment. When one invests in something one gets a return and when one lays the groundwork one will get a return in the future. If we do not, we will condemn a nation to poverty or emigration, and people will be unable to succeed to the level of which they are well capable. Our children are capable of reaching a potential well above what was laid out for many of us when we were in school. I believe that through investment we can lay the future not only of our society but also of our economy. It is more important to invest in education than to invest in corrupt banks. Given the opportunities that new technologies grant us, all schools should have an enhanced programme and roll-out of such new technologies because it allows pupils to absorb knowledge, broaden their horizons, learn new languages and learn from other experiences.

I urge all Deputies to reconsider the motion and whether they will vote against it. It is a good motion and it commits every Member to improving the education of our children, the children of this nation.

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