Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is often the case that our debates become polarised and non-productive. We have seen this in the urban-rural divide and the debate about public and private sector employment. There is a possibility that we are heading in that direction with education at the moment. I feel very privileged to have had my education from the Irish Christian Brothers before we had free education. If one did not have the fees to pay, the Christian Brothers still provided one with an education. The current debate on private schools versus State schools is heading in a direction that may not give great results. I worry when people ask if we should encourage private schools to come into the State system. One wonders what is meant by the word "encourage". Does it mean penalise them in order to bring them into line in a certain way? No one would suggest there is more intelligence or better education in one form of school as against another but is not right either to pursue the common denominator. That does not always give the best results. Recent debates are heading in that direction. If people want to obtain extra help and are able to pay for it, there is nothing particularly wrong with it. When we talk about the common denominator, we should remind ourselves that there is a grey line between socialism and communism.

In this case, we should pull back from polarisation and have a proper debate. The blame is on ourselves in a way. We have allowed the media to take over these debates before we have had any opportunity to discuss them. They should be discussed here in the Oireachtas. I support the call for an early discussion of this matter. It would be a pity if we were to set one type of education against another. What will happen will set teacher against teacher and pupil against pupil, which does not help education. It is certainly not a logical way to achieve any result in the current debate. I ask the Leader to consider providing for a debate at an early stage.