Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am very conscious that as we sit here today and discuss education, students who would otherwise be doing their junior or leaving certificates or who would be going on school tours are sitting at home. In addition to the pandemic, which is affecting them in a multitude of ways, now when they turn on their television or social media they are faced with pictures of racial injustice and state-sponsored violence in the US. It is important to acknowledge and understand that and to position ourselves in respect of those images and what we can do. I join my colleagues in expressing my solidarity with everyone protesting against police brutality and racism. The killing of George Floyd and countless other black men and women by police must be protested. The inexcusable structural racism that allows innocent black men and women be killed by police forces without consequence, and the unique brand of politics that excuses these killings and breeds fear and sows division, must end.

People power, protest and worldwide expressions of solidarity are the only way to do this and we in the Social Democrats stand in full solidarity with protestors on the Black Lives Matter demonstrations both here and abroad.

This is an important moment in which to reflect on racism and on the discrimination that exists in our country. I have made the point on several occasions in this Chamber that diversity matters. In a representative democracy, it is important that a person can witness some semblance of his or her likeness as he or she engages with the structures of the State. This thought was foremost in my mind as I prepared for this session on education today. As we pursue a pathway to return to normality, I am conscious of what normality has been for students from minority backgrounds in Ireland up to this point. Marian Wright Edelman famously said: "It's hard to be what you can't see." If that is true, students from low income backgrounds, students of colour, students with disabilities and students from Traveller backgrounds and ethnic minority groups cannot see themselves in the teaching community in Ireland.

It is a point that has been made by a previous speaker but I will elaborate on it. The Department of Educations and Skill's data shows that in the period between 2013 and 2014, one in nine primary school children was from a non-Irish background. In our second level schools, one in eight students was born overseas. Le Chéile Secondary School in Tyrrellstown reports 67 nationalities making up its student cohort but this diversity is not reflected in our teaching professions. A diversity in initial teacher education in Ireland study found that of new primary school teachers in 2014, 99% of respondents identified as white, Irish and settled and 100% specified either English or Irish as their first language. For our secondary school teachers, the picture is much the same. Over 98% of 2013 entrants and 99% of 2014 entrants expressed their origins as being of Irish nationality only or as of Irish nationality with an additional nationality.

There are some positives which the Minister has mentioned and I want to touch on the programme the Minister mentioned as well because it is a worthwhile programme. I applaud the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Justice and Equality for funding the Marino Institute of Education migrant teacher bridging programme that allows migrants with educational qualifications onto a one-year course to become qualified teachers in Ireland but 40 teachers progressed from that course last year and that is simply not enough. Dr. Emer Nowlan, who the Minister will know, is a course co-ordinator there. She has said they have been taken aback by the huge interest in the programme. She said they have 600 teachers on their mailing list and 140 applied to enrol in their current bridging programme but that, unfortunately, they could only accommodate 40 and so they had to apply selection criteria, which took a number of factors into account, including teacher qualifications and their progress through the Teaching Council registration process. I appeal to the Minister that this is an incredibly worthwhile initiative which he clearly values. We might need to widen the scope of this initiative and to bring more teachers through that same process.

When I think about racism, that replicates itself and becomes ingrained in our society and I cannot help but think about the plight of our Traveller community. That goes much deeper than simple representation. We need to reflect on the terrible history of racism in this country and on the treatment of Travellers by the State. Every day, Travellers in Ireland experience a denial of their identity with direct and indirect racism. At an individual level, Travellers are denied access to public businesses, Traveller children have reported being bullied in school and Travellers have been denied calls to interviews based on their addresses. On a structural level, we see an appalling lack of political will to deliver upon Traveller accommodation, with city councils returning Traveller accommodation budgets unspent each year. We see that inequality and racism further compounded when we look at the deep educational inequality experienced by Travellers in Ireland every day. That manifests itself in a multitude of different ways but I have even seen the denial of Traveller culture being placed on the syllabus. One can even look at the inability of so many Travellers to access third level education, with only 167 Travellers of any age reporting having a third level qualification. That is simply unacceptable.

When I think about the schools I have been in when I worked with the Trinity College Dublin access programme going into DEIS schools, one of the saddest things I saw, which is a shameful indictment of this country, was children who were born in Ireland who still felt the shameful consequences of that 2004 referendum which denies them citizenship. Anyone in this Thirty-third Dáil who is committed to confronting racism in this country, needs to commit him or herself to removing that horrendous consequence of that referendum.

We do not need another referendum to do it. We should not go around asking people whether they are good enough to live in this country. This Parliament can remove that consequence, and we should. We should commit ourselves to that in the Thirty-third Dáil.

The Taoiseach mentioned today in his contributions that the Covid payment will now be decreased for people who were not previously working full time when the pandemic started in February. This will have a profound impact on students who may not have been working full time in February but certainly would be working full time now so they could cover the potential cost of their registration fees. The Minister might say SUSI will do that, but it certainly does not do it for everybody. Such students would be working full time to cover the cost of their rent, the access requirements further than the point of entry, and books and stationery. If we remove the full Covid payment from that cohort, who would be working full time now, it will have a terrible consequence for them. I therefore appeal to the Minister to stand up for students at the meeting he will have tomorrow with the Taoiseach and say that those who would be working full time now, students or any other cohort, will be impacted by this measure. It is simply not acceptable.

I wish to talk a little about the 993 students who did not register for predictive grading. The Minister mentioned them in his opening address, and I respect that. We cannot let this cohort go. We need to find out who they are, find out the reasons they may not have registered for calculated grades and ensure we offer them every single opportunity to be treated the same as any other student.

The Minister has mentioned his and his Department's engagement with schools. We talk to schools all the time; they contact us. To give him an indication, the last contact I had from a school was just this morning. A school rang me up asking about school bus places for when students go back to school, if they are to go back in September. The school asked simply about getting their students onto buses. Are these matters being considered? In an urban environment, that, for me, is a Dublin bus being crammed at 8.30 a.m. I am sure it is different in a rural context, but under social distancing that will simply not be possible, so I hope the Minister is considering that also.

See this speech in context