Shane Ross (Independent)

I second the motion and I thank Senator O'Toole for tabling it in the name of the Independent Senators. He has put his finger on a serious problem. While we pay lip-service to education, I see real dangers and a similarity between the state of Irish education and the state of the Irish economy when the Celtic tiger started taking off. What we seem to have had in 1993 was a tremendous boom in the underlying and operating economy but no infrastructure to shelter it. We saw the lack of roads, airports and infrastructure of all types and we have suffered as a result.

Today, we have a great commitment to the burgeoning number of pupils in primary education and an infrastructure which seems to be in chaos. This will not be a disaster but it will have serious consequences for the future of the economy, those pupils and all stakeholders in education. What Senator O'Toole is doing is firing a warning shot over those politicians who state we have a tremendous commitment to education, as the Government amendment to the motion states. It boasts of the amount of money invested by the Government but it fails to address any specific problems.

I do not apologise for the fact that I am one of those politicians who has, from time to time, lobbied for particular schools. I have raised such matters on the Adjournment. Senator O'Toole is correct to state the replies one receives from Ministers on such issues are almost insulting. They are insulting not only because one is provided with a piece of flabby material which tells one nothing but they also reveal that the Department of Education and Science does not know very much, the Minister replying does not know much and somewhere in the queue rests the school one is representing but neither the Minister nor anyone else knows where it stands.

If some of the proposals in this motion were put into effect we would have at least a certain transparency so people could go onto the Internet, see where they stand in the queue, know what their expectations are and what commitment is made. At present, the replies we receive are inadequate and leave many schools, teachers and pupils in a state of uncertainty. Not only does it give rise to great frustration, it also gives rise to the suspicion that politicians can jump queues in this area.

The lack of information breeds uncertainty which we, as politicians, inflame and encourage to a certain extent by responding to public opinion by agreeing to try to obtain information about where a school is in a queue. When the Minister cannot tell them the answer people feel something is going on behind the scenes because we have no transparency. It would be helpful if the Minister announced that the website will contain information on where every schools building project stands, what its expectation is and when it will be finished. People would not need politicians to find out for them.

As the motion states, we could also have weightings as to who gets priority and why, which schools building projects are considered vital, less important or placed down the queue for reasons such as other schools in the area or not as much demand existing. We do not know which projects gets priority or how funding is allocated. It is very important for teachers and pupils that this done. There is a tracking system in certain states in the US, which works quite well. People can access the education website and find out exactly where they stand.

I appreciate the clause in the motion which states we should have fast track planning. It is inexcusable that some schools are unable to proceed with vital building projects for reasons of which they are unaware and because of trivial delays in the planning process. The result of that is what Senator O'Toole pointed out, namely, a type of prefab education system which will badly affect the morale of teachers, pupils and parents and will affect educational standards.

This issue is not unrelated to that of class size, which is often raised here. We are concerned with space and if space is not provided for schools, it is obvious there will be no space for pupils, class sizes will remain large and teachers will be working in cramped conditions once again.

I appeal to the Minister to respond to this motion, not in the usual way as in the amendment to the motion boasting about what the Government has done, but in a positive way with specifics telling us she will produce an inventory, provide information, introduce transparency in order that we know the way schools are prioritised, lift the morale of teachers, pupils and parents by giving more information and not cloak this issue in secrecy which makes people suspicious about how decisions are made.