Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In simple terms, we are debating whether education really matters. This is only the second opportunity the Labour Party has had in this Dáil session to table a Private Members' motion, and we chose education as the topic, because it really does matter. Education is the liberator. It is the key to establishing real equality in any society. I thank all the speakers who spoke in the debate. Many spoke with passion and real belief. It is important that we can build across the House. We can have banter about each other's records, it is important that we look forward, now that we have spent five years trying to grapple with a broken economy, to see what a recovered Ireland could look like. At the heart of this is the need for a world-class education system. Can we not all agree on this and work towards it?

It is extraordinary, a week after the budget, that we still cannot confirm the date on which the social welfare increases will come about. It is not a minor matter, given that every day will cost €1 million. There is a difference between paying the social welfare increases on 1 March and at the end of March. It is a sum of money that, if deployed in the education sector, would make a real difference and be able to address many of the matters we are discussing. It is reasonable, given that the parties that are supporting the Government are in discussions on the matter, that we propose another adjustment to the budget to deal with something that is of fundamental importance, and foremost in the list of issues in our motion, namely, class size. Education matters, and if anybody was listening to any contribution from any side, they will know we have a consensus on this.

I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle, talk about his strong links with education. I started my working life as a primary school teacher and every day I got to experience the simple joy that comes of watching young minds grow and develop. I also saw first hand the frustrations of overcrowded classrooms, underfunded schools and the pressures imposed on parents to meet the cost of education. While we can have our banter about the significant funding constraints, let us deal with some realities. During the past five or six years, we have come through the most horrendous economic time since our independence. Even against this very difficult backdrop, the then Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, found the money to begin the reduction in class sizes. We reversed the increases to class sizes which Fianna Fáil introduced at the start of the crisis and brought them back to their smallest ever. Everybody working in education, as Deputy Jan O'Sullivan said, believed this progress would continue and that last year would be regarded as the first step. During the last general election, every party in the House has argued for smaller class sizes. The programme for Government agreed between the parties that constitute the Government noted the value of smaller class sizes for younger children in particular.

In advance of the budget, everybody presumed that reduction in class sizes would be among the first of the listed items on the budget agenda. Sadly, we were all wrong. The Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, has noted that the Government's plan for education lies in tatters because the Government has failed to match ambition with resources. The INTO has called on all its members to contact their local Deputies to support the Labour Party motion. We are grateful for this support. More important, we are grateful for the INTO's campaigning work. It has highlighted that more than 100,000 children attending school this week are being educated in classes with more than 30 pupils. It is a crying shame that this year we did not continue the incremental work to address this unacceptable fact.

Back to school costs in Ireland are enormous. This year, Barnardo's in Ireland reported that parents of primary school children spend an average of €100 per year per child on school books. We have had a major crisis and protests about €160 for water charges. The cost of school books is an enormous imposition on many families. Parents of children in second level education spent approximately €300 per year. Over 70% of parents are being asked for voluntary contributions to maintain the infrastructure of their schools. These are real costs and they put parents under real pressure.

The alternative budget my party proposed set out modest but meaningful measures to tackle these issues. We know we cannot address them all in one fell swoop and that there must be incremental progress. However, we must continue incrementally in order to make a significant step year on year. The State should continue to invest in the seed capital needed to make the book rental scheme a reality in every school. For primary school children, the average cost of a book rental scheme is approximately €20, an 80% saving on the cost of buying books for hard pressed parents. Funding was provided over each of the past three years to expand the school book rental schemes during the worst of times. Like class sizes, progress in this area has come to a shuddering halt. Funding of our schools has been described in the Department of Education and Skills as a critical issue, yet the budget delivered no change and no additional funding.

A small amount of money goes a long way in capitation payments to schools. To increase capitation rates by €10 per child would have cost less than €10 million. Even doing half of it would have been a start. However, the Government delivered nothing in the budget. As Deputy Jan O'Sullivan said, the Labour Party believes increased capitation should be enhanced for any school that commits to ending the practice of voluntary contributions. It would have been a socially progressive thing to do. We could deliver real and tangible savings for parents. It is a shame that we did not do it this year.

The Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, made hay on budget day unveiling a significant additional investment in higher education, which both Ministers of State who spoke this evening underscored. He announced funding of €36.5 million to cover further and higher education. Apprenticeship numbers are increasing. However, we have seen this welcome pattern over the past three years and it seems set to continue. The Minister cannot announce how much, if any, of the €36.5 million is going towards delivering these important opportunities for young people. I take heart from what the Minister of State, Deputy John Halligan, said this evening, as reinforced by the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle. However, we want to see it tangibly impact on the number of apprenticeships created. The Minister of State specifically said €1.5 million would go towards the international education strategy and that €8.5 million would go towards a very limited expansion of the student grant supports. If this is true, it leaves only €5.5 million to fund apprenticeships. The sums do not add up and we must see whether there is truth in the words both Ministers of State uttered.

One of the proposals in the Cassells report on higher education funding was a modest increase in the national training fund. We welcome the proposals. Amazingly, IBEC welcomes them.

That tiny improvement, an increase of 0.1% next year, would have yielded €67 million, a sum that could have been used to make a meaningful impact on the creation of apprenticeships. It is a shame that the consensus, even among employers, that this be done was ignored.

We in the Labour Party believe that education matters. We believe that the motion deserves the support of Members from all sides of the House. Whatever points may be scored on this, we need to make incremental progress to ensure we have the best education system in the world. It is a modest set of proposals, but an important incremental start. On Thursday, I hope that, when we get rid of the amendments and posturing in this regard, we will have a majority in the House in support of the motion. I hope that we will not delay in decreasing class sizes and that we will, by consensus, start that important work immediately.

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