Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Go raibh maith agat. Ba mhaith liomsa mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis na Seanadóirí. The one thing that is clear is that all of us are genuinely interested in ensuring that our schoolchildren get their education in the best possible quality accommodation. At the same time I know there are a number of schools that are waiting for their building projects to progress. I am very conscious of the fact that this can lead to frustration for the children themselves, for the parents, the teachers, and for public representatives. I know the Senators are aware that there are 4,000 schools in the country and the majority of these had no capital investment whatsoever in the decades before this Government came to office. As a direct consequence a considerable backlog of modernisation and refurbishment works must be undertaken.

At the same time, rising enrolments at primary level, populations shifts and significant increases in teacher numbers have necessitated the construction of new schools and extensions throughout the country. Many of the schools that we hear about are looking for additional classrooms because we supplied additional teachers, reduced the class size by two points and because we ensured that every school in the country had access to resource teachers. In the course of consultations with the Irish National Teachers Organisation about reducing the class size it was agreed that teachers would get involved in team teaching. I have yet to go to a school where two mainstream classroom teachers will work together within the one room, yet the teachers are seeking extra space and extra rooms. It has not been possible to meet all the demands and requirements while at the same time ensuring——