Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader for a debate in this House on private schools, a matter that has been covered on the airwaves in recent days. I believe the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, are correct in saying that private education should be private and should be paid for accordingly. I do not want the taxpayers of Donegal to be paying for the private schools in Dublin or in other parts of the country. The ¤98 million spent on subsidies to private schools should be broken down and if that amount is saved, some of it should be given to the small rural schools in County Donegal that are suffering. I would expect Senator Ó Domhnaill on the other side to agree with that. The debate on private education is important. Regardless of whether one flies with Aer Lingus by first class or economy class, we still get to the same destination and we do not need champagne to get us there. The route to education is quite straightforward and no one should be given a leg up in the education system as families are suffering enough in rural and other parts of the country. I ask the Leader for a debate on the subsidy paid to private schools.