Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

The current target is to reduce illiteracy levels to between 10% and 15% of the population by 2016, meaning 500,000 will have basic literacy skills. It is an unacceptable target and must be changed.

The Department has been advised of the Right to Read campaign which seeks to improve literacy among schoolchildren. According to the campaign, it is important that children have room to learn in each family house. It campaigns for larger apartments and for the housing guidelines to be changed to allow children more space in their homes. I welcome Dublin City Council's recent attempt to introduce regulations that increase the size of apartment blocks. This initiative should be extended throughout the country because children must be given space to learn.

Many children in Dublin are in homework clubs whereby they go to local libraries, learn with other children and share school experiences. We must consider extending library hours throughout the country to enable as many children as possible to benefit from such clubs. The earlier we intervene, the more likely it is that children will excel at primary and secondary school level and continue on to third level.

It is important to retain children in the education system because many leave before they should. Some 18% of children leave the system without any qualification, a figure that has remained stagnant since 1991. On the County Meath coast, one out of every four children leaves school early. Elsewhere, that figure can rise to 60%. Our economy needs children to stay in school because it is their best hope of finding jobs and contributing to the Ireland of tomorrow.

A school's quality is a factor. It is unacceptable that some children go to class in toilets or converted gyms. It is important that they be given the facilities they need to learn in comfort. We should also examine locating classes close to where the students live to ensure parents can get involved in school through sports days or parent-teacher evenings. The further a school is located from the family, the more difficult it is to involve the parents. It is essential that parents are involved in the education of the child.

We should examine extending the way we teach business in schools. We must engender a better awareness of what it takes to run a business. We must make it easier to set up businesses and encourage more people to establish businesses at home. I would like a system whereby secondary school students are mentored by local business people to teach them what it is like to set up a business and to encourage them to do so.

We must make it easier for people to go back and study. The Labour Party in government abolished third level fees and we must extend this. We need to reach out to people in further education, many of whom attend classes at night and at their own expense. The National Youth Council of Ireland has proposed the abolition of fees for approved part-time courses taken by people who do not already have a qualification and whose income is below the national average.