Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister back to the House. In many ways the Minister for Education and Science and her Department have failed our children; I outlined some of those failures in my previous contribution some weeks ago. The lack of planning regarding the provision of first and second level schools throughout the country, but particularly in the growth areas such as north Dublin, Dublin 15, Kildare and Meath, is a scandal. The net effect of current Government policy is large class sizes, no places for children until they are five years of age, prefabs instead of proper classrooms and parents being obliged to queue for days and nights in the elements to get their children into the school of their choice. The provision of necessary infrastructure, including the building of schools, must take place in tandem with residential development and the schools must be built before the houses are occupied. I understand some real progress is being made on that area now, particularly in Fingal, but that must be conditioned in all planning applications. While that is a role for planning authorities, the Department of Education and Science must take ownership of the school planning process within an integrated framework. Governments must provide an education for all the children of Ireland equally and guarantee that no child is denied access to education because of his or her religious beliefs.

Following the unacceptable school crisis this September, some weeks ago we called on the Government to put a motion before this House in Private Members' time to establish a national convention on education involving the education partners, politicians and social partners which should address, among other matters, the management of primary schools in a changing Ireland, enrolment policies, domestic and European equality legislation and the planning and building of schools in new communities. Following that debate, we remain convinced of the merits of such an approach, and I am aware of the Minister's position on that following the debate.

Education is the key to Ireland's future. With our changing society it is vital that proper integration occurs at the earliest possible age. The Balbriggan crisis, caused by poor planning by the Department of Education and Science, was a major setback in that regard. That 95% of the children who were enrolled in the emergency school were black is outrageous and does nothing to facilitate the type of integration that is required in our new multicultural society.

I will refer briefly to the area of third level education. We believe third level education is a right and not a privilege to be bought by a few. That is the reason education is at the core of what the Labour Party refers to as the fair society. We believe everyone deserves a chance to reach his or her full potential, regardless of class or income, not only for that person's own fulfilment but for what that fulfilment ultimately provides to society and for the country as a whole. That is the reason we abolished third level fees in 1996, breaking down barriers for those who had benefited from free second level education but who were then told they could go no further. We believe this is as true of undergraduates studying part time as it is of full-time students and that the continued existence of fees for part-time students is unfair. Part-time fees for all first-time undergraduates should be abolished. Will the Minister consider doing so soon? In many cases, these undergraduates are struggling to keep the show on the road with families, etc. and to recover lost opportunities. Their deserving efforts should be encouraged.

The illiteracy rate of 30% among disadvantaged children is a scandal and must be eradicated. One in three children in disadvantaged areas has serious problems with basic mathematics. There has been no real improvement in standards in recent years and the gap between children in disadvantaged areas and the national average has widened, which is shameful given the amount of money available but wasted in these most affluent of times.

Children have no chance of breaking the cycle of poverty if they cannot read. The national anti-poverty strategy set a target to halve the proportion of pupils with serious literacy difficulties by 2006, but it was not worth the paper it was written on because there was no effective strategy to achieve it. The Labour Party believes that targets must be set and achieved through a series of integrated actions beginning with early intervention, namely, ensuring every child gets at least one year of preschool education. International research shows that children who avail of preschool education do better at every level of education thereafter and in life. Providing it free of charge is the only way to ensure it will occur. I ask the Minister to consider this matter.

By detecting difficulties at an early age and continuing to measure each child's progress through school, we will ensure the necessary supports and interventions are provided so that young people will attain basic skills in school. Smaller classes, ongoing training for teachers, one-to-one programmes, the involvement of parents, use of technology and greater library provision in schools are essential elements in tackling literacy and numeracy problems effectively. Educational opportunity is the most effective way to break intergenerational poverty, which still prevails strongly in our rich little country.

Physical education must be given the prominence it deserves in primary schools. According to figures reported in the media recently, the amount of time children in Irish primary schools spend on PE is unacceptably low when compared with the rest of Europe. In some primary schools, PE is not taught owing to a lack of facilities. In many cases, prefabs have taken over the only play facilities available to schools. This is a significant problem. Lack of time and resources and a culture of placing sport and fitness outside the general curriculum contribute to Irish schools languishing behind their European partners in terms of PE.

The failure to encourage children to exercise regularly and to educate them about the importance of sport and fitness stores up major problems for the future for overall health and well-being. Official figures indicate that there may be as many as 300,000 obese children in Ireland and the situation is not improving. There should be adequate provision for PE in every school because it has become the poor relation.

Swimming is probably the best overall form of exercise for children, but not enough schools have access to pools. Often, schools that can make swimming available are forced into charging children for the privilege. The Labour Party would support any proposal by the Minister to develop a fund specifically for the use of schools which want to include swimming in their PE activities.

We need to provide funding so that schools can upgrade their PE and sporting facilities in association with local sporting bodies where appropriate, as is occurring in some places. Funding should be made available for the provision of specialist sport and physical education teachers for all primary schools, especially in the most underprivileged areas. Physical education is an important area of education.

My opening comments were to the effect that, in many ways, the Minister and the Department have failed our children. Let us not waste time in putting it right. The budget will provide an early opportunity and I look forward to its educational content.