Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

Will the Leader arrange for the Minister for Education and Skills to come to the House to discuss the outrageous proposals to increase class sizes for primary school pupils? I ask Members on this side of House to object to the idea that such a proposal would even be contemplated. Such proposals were put by officials to the previous Government and rejected outright when our four year plan was being prepared. There is no doubt there are pressures on the education budget but investment in primary education and initiatives such as the free preschool year, which was introduced in a tough budgetary environment but prioritised by the previous Government, are important. There is numerous research that shows that the best investment in education, from a social and economic point of view, is in the early years.

I would like the Minister to come to the House to outline if such proposals are being seriously considered by the Government and to give Members on all sides of the House an opportunity to express their views on that. There was also an airing in the media of the idea that the free preschool year might be abandoned. That would be a crazy move. There are other ways to save money. That is a part of the education system that should not be touched. From the point of view of disadvantaged children, it is the best possible start for them. It is all very well to invest in those who were lucky enough to make it college and obviously that is a priority in terms of research, but from the point of view of the disadvantaged, the best impact we can have is to help younger people at the earliest possible stage and ensure that everybody gets the best possible education even in the current economic environment. That needs to be protected at all costs.