Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Deputies Clarke, Dillon and Ó Murchú raised the issue of the date for the leaving certificate examination results. I do not as yet have a date. We all want it to be in August. Young people in sixth year want to know what course they will be doing next year. Many have to find accommodation, which is difficult, and the more time they have the better their chances. Of course, there are people who are applying for courses abroad and people from Northern Ireland who are applying for courses here. I know the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the State Examinations Commission will do all they can to make sure the results are issued as early as possible. It is not in a position to say as yet because that will depend on the number of examiners it can hire and on other issues such as second sitting. Nobody wants to give a date and then change that date. I assure Deputies that we are working on this.

In regard to modular classrooms, often the reason the Department of Education offers modular classrooms is that they can be provided quite quickly and are needed quickly. They can also be of extremely high quality. There are a number of them in my constituency. When people hear “modular” they sometimes think of the prefabs of old. Some of these buildings are top class and unless you were told they were modular you would in many cases not even know. I hear what Deputy Murphy has to say about new schools. It was a pleasure to open Kingswood Community College in his constituency the other day, St. Mochtus, and Cahir National School in County Tipperary. I look forward to opening the Edmund Rice Secondary School in Castleknock in a few days’ time. Looking at these new school buildings makes it clear how wonderful they are, what high quality they are and what is possible. However, it makes the old buildings appear all the worse. I have the same experience when it comes to new hospital wings. It reminds us how much more we need to do when it comes to replacing old infrastructure, rather than just building new infrastructure. We have a school building budget now of about €1 billion a year. It has never been higher. There is a huge programme under way. Can we increase it further? Yes, we can, and we will consider that as we review the national development plan, NDP, thresholds. However, there are real constraints. There are only so many builders out there. There is only so much steel and so much concrete. We are starting to run into constraints that are not about money. We can increase the funding. However, that will speed it up but will also increase the cost. I totally understand where the Deputy is coming from on that.

On the staffing levels, raised by Deputy Murnane O’Connor, she was right to say we have more teachers in Ireland now than ever before. Teacher-pupil ratios are at or close to an all-time low. On the specific issue, I will have to get back to her. I just to not know enough about this issue and I do not wish to give an incorrect answer. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to come back with a detailed reply.

In regard to the issue of children with additional educational needs raised by Deputies Moynihan, Bacik and others, we have a dedicated Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, with responsibility for special educational needs now for the first time ever. There is a substantial budget of about €2 billion. Nearly a quarter of all our education budget now goes on helping children with additional educational needs. There are more special needs assistants, SNAs, all the time as well as more special classes and some new special schools. Am I satisfied? No, I am not. I do not think I could be. Anybody who attends their constituency office or constituency clinic and hears the number of stories of children who are not getting the help they need early enough could not possibly be satisfied. However, we are doing more every day, every week and every month. That will continue.

In regard to the issue of teacher shortages occurring in many schools, which was raised by Deputy Barry, I accept this is an issue. I know of quite a number of schools, not just in my constituency but in others, where students' subject choice has been restricted. Many more subjects are offered than in the past so it is harder to fully staff all the subjects than would have been the case in the past. It is a shame however, to see student choice being restricted in that way. It is one thing not to offer a subject. It is another thing to take it away. That is happening in certain instances. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is working on this to see what options are available. However, as is the case across our economy, in both the public sector and private sector, for low-paid jobs and well-paid jobs, we are at full employment and there are shortages across the board. Even increasing pay does not necessarily solve the problem because of full employment. That is particularly the case when there is an international labour market for particular skills.

Anything we can do that we believe will work, we will do, however. I cannot go into the individual case raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett without knowing the details. If he passes those details on to me, I will see if we can get a reply from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on that specifically.

On the matters raised by Deputy Tóibín, the Deputy is right. If children are engaged in violence and serious crime, there have to be consequences. That has to be done on an individualised basis, however. Nobody wants to see a child being criminalised, getting a criminal record or being put in detention, and that is why there are alternatives in place. It depends on the individual case, the gravity of the crime, the circumstances around it and what is best for the children involved.

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