Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I thank the Independent Senators for moving this motion. I am pleased to see the Minister here tonight to listen to our concerns.

No matter what part of the country one goes to, one will find a primary school struggling with more or less the same three problems, namely, a lack of funding, school size and access routes and road safety in front of school buildings. Those are three vital issues that affect the service provided to children and their parents.

Education can have a direct impact on the state of our economy. Last week, the OECD report on the future of the Irish economy pointed out that we are not making sufficient investment in education. Inaction from the Department of Education and Science and parsimony from the Department of Finance mean that our schools are underfunded when compared to schools in the rest of Europe. As a result, teachers are struggling to provide the education that is required by our schoolchildren.

I have been in contact with a number of schools in my area in the past few days in advance of today's motion and one issue that comes up again and again is the lack of funding. The level of capitation grant is essential to the service that is provided by schools but the money they receive from the Department is barely enough to cover the costs of electricity, heating and insurance. After spending their capitation grants on these essentials, some schools cannot afford to buy a stick of chalk. They cannot afford to put additional books in the library. As a result, principals who should be dedicating their time to working out how best to provide an education for schoolchildren wonder how they will raise more money from the next cake sale or if an egg and spoon race will be held on Saturday to raise additional money.