Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I thank Senators Norris and Henry for allowing me to contribute on this subject, even if only to make one point. The Minister has spoken very well today and covered the area he set out to cover. He spoke of a multi-faceted approach, but I want to focus on educational disadvantage, an aspect about which Senator Henry has just talked. If we allow to continue what has happened here in recent years, one section of society will be left out because of educational disadvantage. Disadvantaged persons have not shared in the growing prosperity we have seen and find that they have been left behind from the very beginning. I have had the opportunity to be involved in an aspect of education in recent years and learned that some people are at the back of the class from the very first years of schooling. They lose contact with the class, which is the root cause of the problem.

The Minister has been very good today in speaking about the various ways in which he will tackle crime, but I am talking about getting to its root. We have to do something about educational disadvantage by investing money. For 20 years or more we have been tinkering with the edges of the problem, investing amounts of money which are tiny when compared to the task in hand. Our failure is exemplified by this debate.