Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

Thank you for your protection, Sir. The expenditure will also include €320 million in third level student support. The Government is committed to tackling disadvantage and has a proud record of achievement in that regard over the last five years. I know this Minister will be very happy to be judged on his record when he leaves office in five years time.

Between 1997 and 2002, nearly 19,000 additional student places were created. That may not be very significant to some people but it is very significant to the 19,000 people who secured those places in full-time third level education and enrolment for part-time study, which increased by 41%. There was increased support for third level access, an issue which has been the subject of misguided and inaccurate comment in the media in recent weeks. The figure increased from €500,000 to €24 million in the current budget, an increase of 4,700%. A top-up maintenance grant for disadvantaged students was introduced, with a higher rate of grant set at €4,000 in 2002, and the income threshold was increased by 32%.

In isolation, that is not enough as the Minister would be the first to acknowledge. Maintenance grants for PLC students were introduced at a cost of over €12 million this year. Over 6,000 teacher training places have been created and the Government has brought the pupil-teacher ratio down to 19:1 at primary level and, effectively, 14:1 at secondary level, although in the latter case it may be 16:1 or 17:1 at recruitment level. That is the single most important criterion used by educationalists over many decades as a measure of equality of opportunity in education. We are very proud of the significant progress in that area.

In the area of disadvantage, to which Senator Burke asked me to refer, the programmes are so wide, multi-faceted and holistic in their approach that I can only sketch them briefly in the limited time available to me. We have targeted an extensive programme of initiatives which have been funded and put in place for early school leavers. The establishment of the Education Welfare Board has been a landmark development which is particularly appreciated by those of us who practised in education in the 1960s and 1970s and observed the inadequate system of school attendance officers then in place. The current holistic approach in this matter is backed up by many other initiatives.