Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and echo the sentiments of my colleagues. Language support teachers and resource teachers for special needs students provide services to those most in need. We discussed investment in education and how much it has increased in recent years, but we must remember that it is not a niche interest or a luxury addition to our education system. It is an essential part of the education system in raising the standards of educational attainment.

We are a multicultural nation. Immigrant families helped to build the wealth in our society that has been wrongly squandered and these families continue to contribute to our economy and society. If they are to play a full role and contribute to our society and economy, there is an onus on us to support them, remove barriers to participation and treat all children equally and on the basis of need. Communication is the most basic tool to which any student should be entitled.

The intercultural education strategy 2010-15 clearly shows that while some immigrants are leaving Ireland, there is still a significant inward flow of migrants. The recent profile of migrants has changed, with an increasing proportion between birth and 15 years old. While the previous Government planned to reduce the total number of language support teachers from 1,400 to 900, staggered over four years, the new Government, which promised so much change, will now implement half the cuts by September.

While the Department may claim that the changes will have little impact on schools with high concentrations of pupils in need of language support, in schools where fewer than 25% of pupils need language support it will be limited to two years. The needs of the school rather than the needs of students seems to be considered, but the basis of need should be dependent on individual students. A student in need of language support will still be in need of it regardless of the overall percentage needs of the school, something which is critical and which we need to consider in greater detail.

Other changes to education will also limit the availability of resources to schools and their ability to meet the needs of children that arise throughout the school year. A growing number of primary schools have begun to feel the full force of budgetary revisions over teaching posts, even though enrolment levels continue to rise. General morale in the classroom will inevitably suffer, and teachers, despite their best efforts, will find it increasingly difficult to do their job. The general secretary of the INTO recently stated: "This series of cutbacks, which includes cuts already signalled for Traveller children, special needs children, disadvantaged children and pupils in gaelscoileanna, will compromise educational outcomes for children and severely test the ability of schools to develop a really inclusive education for their pupils." This comment comes from a leading teaching organisation, a body which is not party political but draws on the experience of thousands of teachers and puts the needs of students to the fore. She also added:

Every aspect of the curriculum will be affected. Where children lack the basic language skills to interact with the curriculum it is obvious that the national priorities like literacy and numeracy will be compromised. Where additional help is not provided to compensate for a severe poverty children will not reach their full potential.

These concerns are not held by teachers alone. They are also shared by the leading children's charity, Barnardos, which said:

There is real concern that a new generation of children living in Ireland will experience educational disadvantage as a result of cuts in English language support teachers. Any further cuts to the provision of this support will seriously impact on the future lives of these children who will most certainly fall behind in their education if supports are removed.

Already Ireland has slipped back in terms of the OECD education rankings in literacy and mathematics and unless this issue is addressed, serious damage could be done to the international standing of the Irish education system. On reading levels, Ireland has slipped from fifth place in 2000 to 17th place, the sharpest decline among the 39 countries surveyed. This figure highlights the major flaws in how the school curriculum is being delivered. Similarly in mathematics, Ireland has fallen from 16th to 26th place between 2006 and 2009, the second steepest decline among participating countries. Ireland is now ranked as below average in mathematics.

National priorities like literacy and numeracy will be compromised by the cuts in resources. Children will not reach their potential. How can the Minister of State justify cuts to essential frontline services in light of the very worrying figures, in particular when in almost every classroom a significant percentage of pupils have special educational needs or do not speak English as their first language? These cuts dilute scarce and precious supports to schools that are working in the areas of greatest need. They single out the most vulnerable and least politically vocal for attack. They will reduce educational outcomes for children and their eventual productivity as citizens. Most importantly, they will increase the cost of expensive later interventions.