Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I am thankful for the opportunity of participating in this important debate on the need to support and develop education on the northside of Dublin. Tonight, I stand up for education and for teachers, pupils and parents who know and understand the importance of education. I challenge the enemies of education and put on record some of the misinformation from politicians and media commentators. I am a proud member of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, and have been for many years. I have always put education, pupils and teachers first. That is who I am and from where I come.

In addition to standing up for education in the broad sense, I particularly stand up for the schools in my area which do great work against the odds. I strongly support Scoil Mhuire, Marino, Ardscoil Rís, Marino, St. Vincent de Paul infant school, Marino, St. Paul's College, Raheny, St. Mary's Holy Faith, Killester and Belgrove national school, Clontarf, which urgently needs a new building. These schools along with Our Lady of Mercy College, Beaumont, need support and some will shortly lose teachers. It represents blatant misinformation to suggest these schools accept the cuts, especially when other methods of funding were tabled as an alternative to the backward step represented by cuts. Cutbacks on the current and capital side will further depress economic activity, and borrowing money may stimulate the economy and create jobs.

The facts are as follows. The dirty dozen cuts will increase class sizes in primary schools, remove substitute cover for teachers, increase school transport charges, cause the axing of English language teachers, reduce funding to special needs children, slash Traveller education funding, cut teacher numbers by at least 1,000, eliminate the free books scheme, stop books for school libraries, halt the implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, cut funding for computers in primary schools and cut funding for primary school buildings by 5%. This is the reality for teachers, for parents and for young pupils in large classes. The INTO said the admission by the Minister for Education and Science that 1,100 teachers would be taken out of the system was long overdue but welcome. I commend John Carr, general secretary of the INTO, on the work he has put into this campaign. The fact of the matter is that if pupil numbers remain the same, 1,100 teachers will be axed. However, this is not about teachers but about children and education. The Minister will enrol thousands of pupils, but employing 200 fewer teachers for Ireland's already packed classes will result in even more overcrowding. The INTO said that more than 2,000 additional primary teachers were needed to bring numbers up to the EU average. Instead, 1,000 teaching posts are being cut. These are the facts. Let us deal with them.

I also urge common sense in this urgent matter for the future of our country. I urge teachers, parents, pupils and all those who care about education to unite in this important battle for social justice. We should not let them divide us on education. Education is the way forward in this country and it is also the way out of the current economic crisis. It is time to be brave and it is time for leadership and vision in the education debate. We must ignore those who use petty arguments to undermine our efforts.

It is scandalous that on the north side of Dublin, pupils cannot get into their local secondary schools because of lack of places. We all have a duty to support these families and pupils. Any state or society that does not look after its citizens and respect their right to an education loses the respect and confidence of its people. We have all witnessed that in recent weeks. Tonight I stand by these people as an Independent Deputy for Dublin North-Central. Hammering our children in large classes and hammering our disabled and senior citizens should never be an option in an economic downturn. I urge the Minister to think again. I urge him to get rid of the macho image, supported by some right-wing commentators and politicians, of trying to defeat the teachers' unions, parents and students. It is time for common sense. I urge the Minister to listen to sensible voices in Irish education. I will continue to fight for education in Marino, Fairview, Drumcondra, Clontarf, Coolock, Santry, Raheny, Beaumont, Donnycarney, Edenmore and Killester. I will also continue to push for high quality educational services nationally as I believe education is a right for all of our citizens.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

A key priority for the education system is to continue to respond to the diverse needs of learners at all levels. In particular, this means increasing the flexibility and diversity of provision and ensuring quality across the system. Much progress has been made in this area, as may be seen in the substantial programme of curriculum change across both primary and post-primary levels, the development of new learning opportunities outside the traditional post-primary system, the expansion of third level, the growth of a new fourth level and the provision of adult and further education opportunities. In the time available, I will highlight a number of policies and programmes that are particularly relevant to the provision of education services in Dublin.

The educational outcome for the student is crucially dependent on the quality of learning in the school. In 2009 the inspectorate of my Department will continue to support schools and promote improvement through the whole school evaluation and inspection programme in primary and post-primary schools. Through its school evaluation work in the period ahead, my Department will maintain a focus on promoting best practice in school development planning and self-evaluation. This continues to be an important objective for our system, and the evaluation reports provide many examples of leadership in this area.

Numerous influential reports have highlighted the fact that teacher quality is the single most important factor — far above anything else — in improving outcomes. It is vital, therefore, that we not only continue to attract the right people into teaching but that we provide them with the continuum of professional development opportunities they need to be effective educators. The Teaching Council has been given a key statutory role in ensuring that the teaching profession operates to a high standard, and it is aware of the priority my Department attaches to improvements in certain areas, particularly pre-service and induction. In addition, significant agreements were reached just this week on the promotion of teachers and the mechanism by which schools can deal with serious underperformance by teachers in the classroom. The whole school community, in the years ahead, will benefit greatly from these agreements. They are carefully balanced agreements with promotions based on merit and discipline procedures in place for serious underperformance by teachers. These agreements have been accepted by all the teacher unions and they will come into effect in the next school year.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Department's action plan for educational inclusion, DEIS, is being rolled out on a phased basis over the period 2005 to 2010, and focuses on addressing the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school through second-level education. There are 876 schools participating in DEIS, including 103 schools — 76 primary and 27 post primary schools — located on the north side of Dublin. Schools in the DEIS programme are provided with a range of additional financial and other supports, including additional capitation, access to numeracy and literacy supports, home school community liaison services and access to the junior certificate schools programme and the leaving certificate applied at post-primary level.

There are 17 school completion programme projects on the north side of Dublin, comprising 28 post-primary schools and 80 primary schools, targeting approximately 4,720 young people in school and 117 young people out of school, with a total funding allocation of €4,473,905 for 2008-09. Under the SCP, 13 schools participate in the support teacher project, which aims to co-ordinate a whole-school approach to designing and implementing good practice and strategies which will help to prevent the occurrence of disruptive behaviour and to teach and counsel small groups and individuals who exhibit persistent behavioural difficulties in the classroom. The educational element of the north side teenage parenting project, under the teenage parenting support initiative, is also supported under SCP.

Earlier this year, the Government prioritised a programme of investment to deliver additional primary school places in areas of significant demographic change, including the north Dublin area. As a result, a total of 26 new primary schools were successfully delivered on time for September 2008. Schools in the Dublin area included Skerries, Swords, Balbriggan, Lucan, Tyrellstown, Phibblestown, Belmayne, Saggart, Balbriggan and Porterstown. This programme of rapid accommodation delivery has gone a long way towards addressing the issue of capacity in areas identified as experiencing difficulties in this regard. My Department's rapid delivery programme for 2009 will be focused on extension projects in existing schools that are already at architectural planning at various stages of progression. These will also deliver additional permanent accommodation where most needed. I note in particular that the building project at Springdale Road national school in Raheny will commence early in 2009.

The 2009 capital allocation will also cover expenditure on commitments carried forward from 2008, and other miscellaneous items such as the purchase of prefabricated accommodation, the payment of the minor works grant to primary schools and the provision of furnishings and equipment to schools. Schools in the north Dublin area will also benefit in this regard.

Overall investment in education has increased from €3.1 billion in 1997 to €9.3 billion this year. The Government has provided an additional €302 million for education next year, bringing my Department's allocation to €9.6 billion. It will be necessary in the more testing economic climate ahead for us to continue to target and prioritise our resources to maximum effect for everyone. This will ensure that we deliver the best possible outcomes for all learners. I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter.