Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Minister that the inspectorate’s main role is to evaluate teaching and learning. It still beggars belief, however, that the Department’s inspectors can close their eyes to the physical environment where children are literally wedged into classrooms. If a fire officer went into some of these classrooms in question, he or she would condemn them. In any other aspect of the public sector, I do not believe the unions would have their members working in some of these environments. While I acknowledge the work done by the Department in this regard, some school buildings are still absolutely appalling.

It behoves us as Members of the Dáil to ensure that the Minister gets the maximum amount of capital money to ensure there is a capital programme in place.

There is no point in us developing a curriculum through the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment if it is only a box-ticking, window-dressing exercise which cannot be delivered. There are schools all over the country that do not and will not have multi-purpose halls, and children are expected to do physical education, social, personal and health education, SPHE, music, drama - you name it. It is not physically possible to deliver this, yet WSEs are being carried out all over the country and for some reason the inspectors seem to think there is no problem. I agree that the teaching and learning aspect is where they are coming from but how could schools be passing WSEs all over the country when the physical infrastructure is wholly inadequate? That is where this is falling down, and if the inspectorate were empowered to do more and had a freer hand it would strengthen the Minister's hand with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

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