Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

In the 1980s, too many teachers were being trained in colleges when there were not enough jobs and the number of places in teacher training colleges was cut back. At this time, Carysfort college was also closed — possibly wrongly with the benefit of hindsight. In the 1990s, far too few teachers were being trained. The Department of Education and Science has an unusual way of working. Considering it gets effectively four years' advance notice of children beginning school, it is incredible how it can be so far off in its figures. I am not sure of the exact figure, but I suspect in the region of 2,000 teachers in primary schools are untrained, which is an unsatisfactory situation.

This is why I was baffled when I recently discovered that the postgraduate places on courses in St. Patrick's College have been cut back from 180 to 100, even though the Minister has admitted there is a shortage of teachers and despite the fact that the course in question is very successful. It allowed people who had a degree in another area the option of doing a postgraduate course over 18 months and becoming a teacher in that manner, saving them the hassle of having to go to Wales to do a ten month course and then coming home to do the Irish exam.

I understand that the arrival of the Hibernian on-line course is a factor in this. However, when that course was mentioned, it was spoken about as a way of supplementing and adding to teacher numbers but was never suggested as an excuse to cut back the existing postgraduate programme. I urge the Minister to reverse the decision and allow St. Patrick's and the other affected colleges to restore the numbers and ensure that children have a fully-trained teacher in the next 18 months, otherwise we are failing the teachers and the children. It is a retrograde step which should be reversed immediately.

The college itself is at a severe financial disadvantage as a result of these cuts. A total of 900 candidates went forward for interview in St. Patrick's recently, and just 200 places were allocated by the different colleges of education. There is a huge demand from people who want to do the postgraduate course and the cuts make no sense.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform admitted that it cost approximately €84,000 a year to keep a prisoner in jail. I would link the two together. If children get a good foundation at primary school level, their chances of becoming involved in crime and other such areas will be reduced. Money spent on education is money well spent and I am sure the Minister will agree with me in that regard. We should focus our thinking on the long term and not the short term. It is disgraceful that the Department of Education and Science is abusing the arrival of the new on-line primary teacher training course delivered by Hibernia College to make cutbacks in the Department's provision for the postgraduate programme. I look forward to the Minister's response.