Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Darragh O'Brien in regard to the procurement issue. The issue is not so much about SMEs but about micro-businesses, in particular where unreasonable requirements are being placed on them, such as insurance requirements and turnover requirements, in bidding for State, semi-State or local authority contracts, or any contract backed by State support. Such a debate would be a worthwhile.I welcome the announcement of progress on the Greek situation. It appears that the Eurogroup of finance Ministers has accepted the Greek proposals and there is a way forward on that, which is good for the European Union as a whole because we all fear a Greek exit from the eurozone.

I bring to the House’s attention that the Supreme Court has rejected the appeal from the member of the Traveller community who alleged discrimination because a Christian Brothers school refused to admit a 14 year old boy. The five member court overturned that case unanimously, not on the issue of whether the child had been discriminated against. Two of the judges reckoned it was outside the court’s remit and three reckoned there was insufficient statistical evidence to demonstrate that the child had been discriminated against. This raises an issue for the members of the Traveller community who made the case very eloquently.

In a separate story, research published today showed that 80% of migrant children are being educated in less than 25% of Irish schools. We are seeing discrimination and a lack of inclusivity in the educational system. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, will bring forward the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013, which will make it illegal to refuse entry to a student on the grounds of race, religion and disability. Some soft admission rules, such as taking children on the basis that their parents went to the school, enshrine a certain type of privilege. Will the Acting Leader arrange for a debate on this because irrespective of the Supreme Court decision it needs to be brought forward?

I welcome the award of an A grade to the Government for child literacy statistics. This is the first significant recorded improvement in 30 years. I congratulate the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, Deputy Ó Riordáin, on having launched the "Right to Read" campaign which has placed literacy at the heart of the local authority agenda. In budget 2015, €6 million was allocated for the implementation of the national literacy and numeracy strategy bringing the total investment to €13.8 million.