Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The annual commemoration of the Easter Rising was held this morning at Arbour Hill, and with its centenary approaching there will be much discussion and debate on its values and ideals. One principle from the Proclamation is worth mentioning: that the Irish Republic is a sovereign, independent State. It says, "We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies...". We have had many threats to our sovereignty in the past, but I wish to mention a threat to our sovereignty today, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP. It has been presented to us in glowing terms and we have been told it will raise EU GDP and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. However, grave concerns are being raised by politicians, trade unions, civil society and non-governmental organisations, NGOs, throughout Europe and elsewhere. The aim of TTIP is to remove any regulatory barrier to profits and the profit-making potential of multinational and transnational companies. It will have massive implications for workers' rights, food safety, banking, the environment, and agriculture, to mention a few areas. However, I wish to focus on education. Including education in TTIP has the potential to do irreparable damage to the education system in Ireland. The investor-state dispute settlement, ISDS, mechanism will give foreign investors a right to sue a sovereign state, with a democratically elected government, for a loss of profit resulting from public policy decisions. Secret decisions made in boardrooms overseas would have more control over our education system than the Minister or the Department of Education and Skills. It will open the door to a proliferation of private and for-profit schools and colleges.

An American congressional report on the for-profit education sector found that there was a 64% student drop-out rate.

It also found that 17% of funding in the area of education was spent on instruction. We know there is considerable pressure to expand the scope of the education commitments in the TTIP. I ask the Taoiseach to ensure that education is excluded from the agreement. I wonder whether he has had any discussions with the Minister for Education and Skills on this matter.

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