John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

Perhaps the INTO was better off getting rid of Senator O'Toole; it has done so well since he left.

There are nearly 6,000 special needs assistants in schools, compared to just 300 in 1998. This progress must be acknowledged, commended and welcomed. Nevertheless, despite this progress, the Government is not resting on its laurels. In the coming years, as the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 is phased in, resources will be provided to ensure the Government's obligations are met.

A new and welcome development in the past several years has been the increased number of foreign workers arriving here. While welcome, these workers and their families present a number of challenges to the Government, challenges that no previous Government had to face. It is vital that the Government provides adequate funding to ensure language support teachers are provided where necessary and in adequate numbers. I welcome the Minister's commitment at the recent primary principals conference that she will keep this area under review and, in the next 12 months, devote a significant amount of her time to ensuring children whose first language is not English and whose cultures and expectations of education can be very different to our own are given every opportunity. In other countries with an immigrant population, problems occur not with the younger generation but with their parents. It is here that social isolation begins and resentment eventually grows. I urge the Government to do all it can to ensure adults too benefit from any English language programme.

Education is the key to work, social inclusion and a well-grounded, civilised society. It is not a silver bullet; it will not and cannot solve all society's problems. However, in recognising the role education has to play and ensuring adequate resources are provided to all levels of education, this Government has laid the foundations for Irish society into the 21st century. I support the Government's amendment to the motion.