Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin welcomes the Minister’s aspirations to work towards a world class education system. However, this statement is meaningless without adequate investment. Before we talk about where we want our education system to be, we first need to talk about where the system is right now and how the Government has managed it so far.

The education system is a public service which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have decimated with severe cuts to vital services. Since 2012, there has been a 15% cut in resource hours allocated to children with special needs as well a 27.6% reduction in guidance counselling provision. Since 2008, we have seen a €13 million cut in the school transport budget while up to 2,000 staff have been taken out of third level education. Today, two thirds of primary school pupils are taught in classrooms of 25 pupils or more. More than 200 schools are using prefab classrooms to accommodate students. Fine Gael has left our education system in a complete mess. Fine Gael and the Labour Party made the decision to take away resources from the most disadvantaged in our society in respect of special needs and guidance counsellors. They even cut funding for school transport. What kind of equal education system is that?

We have read the Action Plan for Education. While the Minister talks of aspiring to having a world class education system, we do not see any evidence in the plan to rectify these injustices. There is a complete lack of ambition or vision in Fine Gael. For example, it has delayed the investment in ICT infrastructure for Wi-Fi, broadband, equipment and learning resources until 2018. What is the reason for this? It has set a target to increase access to third level in the lowest socioeconomic group to 30% by 2019. Does the Minister realise this is lower than the target set in 2008, which was 31%? Where is the political will in Fine Gael to deal with inequality in education? Why has it failed so far in six years to deal with the issue? Why has it not yet carried out a review of barriers facing lone parents in accessing education?

The review of the school transport system will not be available until 2018. The Minister said he will not have developed a policy on science, technology, engineering and maths until 2017. He also said he will not have started or completed a review on barriers to further education and training for disadvantaged students until next year. Up to 89% of schools are under the direct patronage of the Catholic Church. That is not good enough for a State which aspires to be a republic. We would like to see a departmental roadmap to achieve the goal of 400 multidenominational schools by 2030. We would like to see the Department of Education and Skills issue guidelines for all schools to follow to ensure children can opt out of faith formation, if that is their wish. We would like to see the end of the baptism barrier in school admissions.

These are serious inequalities in our society and the Minister has put all of them on the long finger. I do not understand his vision for the education system. Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil have implemented successive budgets which continue to decimate and underinvest in education. I do not believe their policies will ever produce a world class education system that provides for every citizen in this Republic. Ireland is at a significant crossroads right now. We need to start thinking about creating a discourse around public investment. Education is a vital public service. The State has a responsibility to provide the best possible service it can, and it needs to be an equal service.