Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

We have been asked to deliver statements on delivering a world-class education system that breaks down barriers and ensures every child can achieve his or her full potential. Since the foundation of the State, we have seen improvements in our education system. Opportunities that may not have been available to our grandparents in the twenties and thirties were available to our parents. Certain opportunities may not have been available to our grandfathers or grandmothers. As a State, we have improved the system through different steps along the way. My dad has never spoken too fondly of Fianna Fáil but one person he has always spoken fondly of is Donogh O'Malley, who introduced free education at second level. Steps like that in the late sixties brought us to the point we are continuing on from today.

In the last 30 years, since I went to school, I have seen significant changes. I may have been fortunate in having been unaware of some of them as an individual. I went to school in a classroom where all my friends could kick a ball, read easily and learn Irish. There were no difficulties. That is because there was separation in our schools. The kids who were a bit different and who had a different level of needs were not in the same classroom as me. That has changed for my children. There are mixed and diverse abilities in their schools. The most important thing is that those children who used to be separated are now in combined classes. Their families and parents get to see them mix in the way they always should have. Those are the changes we have seen in our State over the last 20 or 30 years. That has been a great thing for us.

It is obvious that improvements are consistently needed. I have raised these with the Minister and she and the previous Minister have made significant changes but there is plenty more work to do. This is consistently brought up. It was brought up during the week with Cara. Many other issues align with that. We spoke about how the numbers keep increasing. From an education perspective, we need more spaces.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh spoke about the importance of having more Gaelscoileanna. That is a facility the State should deliver. We have been really positive about Gaelscoileanna. We have seen improvements as regards Irish being spoken but we need to deliver those facilities. It would be very difficult for the State to deliver all of those facilities in one go but we can endeavour to do it piece by piece.

I will come back to my county of Kildare. I see Deputy Ní Raghallaigh across the way. We know the burdens we have in Kildare. We know the burdens presented by a rapidly growing population and the depth of difficulties they impose on the population. Access to the schools people want to go to might not always be available. People might not be able to go to school in their communities. Our Government should be endeavouring to ensure that children can attend classes in their own communities and it is doing so. That is what the Minister is doing and that is what we continue to impress upon her. In individual cases, we may not be able to figure out a solution straight away but it is incumbent on us to resolve those issues.

I have worked with individual schools in my area that want to deliver those first-class facilities. Schools like Scoil Mochua in Celbridge are looking for extra space for special education classes. That school is willing. The principal and the board of management are keen and we are looking to find a solution but there is a difficulty with land authorities. It is those sorts of blockages that are stopping us from getting that first-class facility in that specific area.

With regard to Maynooth, a Gaelscoil is required for north-east Kildare. We have had difficulties. We need extra hours for the school and teachers to get the kids to come in to ensure the school grows in the way it should and that a facility will ultimately be delivered.

These are items on which I wish to represent the people of north Kildare. I could go on about a multitude of other issues we come across in individual situations. We all have our own stories to tell. My wife is a primary school teacher so I hear about the difficulties and challenges teachers face and about the bureaucracy they sometimes face. However, what all of them, including my wife, ultimately talk about is the work the teachers themselves do, their commitment, their work and the care they show for the children. We even see it here in Leinster House every day. We see the kids coming in. They visit this place because they look up to it and see on the news that this is where important decisions are made. It is great that I have the opportunity to speak on behalf of those children and those who educate them because, without the world-class education system we are referencing today, we will not be able to deliver what they need.

We can talk all we want about economics and about being best in class but it starts in the schools and starts at home. We as the Government will continue to work to ensure that we can be best in class worldwide in any education system and be proud of it.

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