Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I intend to share time with Senator Kevin Humphreys.

I welcome the Minister and thank her for her indication of support for the Bill. It is much appreciated.

I wish to read some words written by Tom Johnson almost 100 years ago. Today we are recognising the 100th anniversary of the granting of the vote to some women for the first time in 1918. Since we are going through a period of reflection on from where we have come and where we are, it is important for us to reflect on the revolutionary ethos that underpinned those times. I speak of Tom Johnson because he was the first leader of the Labour Party in the Oireachtas. He was asked to pen the first democratic programme of the First Dáil. As the Labour Party had not sought election in 1918, the honour was given to him to write it. He wrote:

It shall be the first duty of the Government of the Republic to make provision for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the children, to secure that no child shall suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing, or shelter, but that all shall be provided with the means and facilities requisite for their proper education and training as Citizens of a Free and Gaelic Ireland.

It was the children to whom Tom Johnson turned first. As you know, a Chathaoirligh, our legislation requires children to be in school between the ages of six and 16 years. Unfortunately, there are problems with the attendance records of many children aged four or five years in the school system. Obviously, these problems are not of their making and it is within the power of their parents or guardians to deal with them. They will have a major impact on their ability to reach their potential in later years.

I have read through the international research on the abilities of children at early ages. I often quote from the 1995 Hart and Risley report which concluded that the average three year old from a welfare dependent family had, on average, one third of the oral language capacity of a three year old from a rich or advantaged family. A poor child aged three years has 400 words, while a rich child - if a child can be rich at the age of three years - has 1,200. Even at the earliest stage, a disadvantaged child has a major gap to close.

I view literacy and educational disadvantage in the way tuberculosis was viewed in the 1940s and 1950s when it was said no one should get sick because he or she was poor. It is similar with illiteracy. People will always have difficulty in reading, but they should never have difficulty in reading because they are poor.

Effectively, we are trying to deal with four and five year olds with chronic attendance difficulties. Often they can be sick, for which there are reasons. Any medical professional will back up the family and deal with Tusla in that regard. However, if a parent is poor and in despair and in a family that is struggling to function because of any number of stresses and strains, including addiction and poverty, bringing a child to school can be the last thing on his or her list of priorities. We want to ensure that if a child is four or five years of age and vulnerable and at the beginning of the educational journey, that journey will be defended by the State, Tusla, the political system and legislation.Unfortunately, families often do not understand the power of education and the importance of being in school every day. As a former school principal in an area of acute disadvantage, I know that Mondays and Fridays often fell by the wayside. On half days, people often took full days off. Christmas and summer can be difficult. It is not because parents or guardians do not love their children but it is because education has failed too many parents and too many people. When they look at school or education, they are looking at something very negative. In some instances they would rather be friends with their children than parents. That is completely understandable.

The Minister rolled out and robustly defended the ABC programme which we started in the last Government. These are programmes across acutely disadvantaged areas. They empower parents to understand the power of oral language, literacy, school attendance and diet, which can prepare a child for life. The scheme in Darndale is called, Preparing for Life.

In our Bill, we want four and five year olds to be prepared for life. If children are not regular attenders at school, it should be within the capacity of Tusla to intervene with the family but not in a negative or an aggressive way, or in a way that would undermine the parents, but in a compassionate and empowering way, which ensures parents and guardians can ensure that attendance patterns are improved. The Minister will appreciate that if a four or five year old is missing from school for 60 to 90 days a year, we can be sure those attendance patterns will be as bad if not worse if we fast forward ten years.

We should be striving for the total eradication of illiteracy. I met an educational psychologist in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, called Tommy MacKay who speaks in those terms. Unfortunately, the ambition for our language has not been strong enough. We have spoken about breaking the cycle and delivering equality of opportunity in schools. However, striving for the total eradication of illiteracy has to be our goal. Attendance at school for four and five year old boys and girls across this State is something we need to strive for.

As the Minister said, under 50% of four year olds are enrolled in schools but the vast majority of five year olds are. If a child has chronic attendance issues, the teacher or principal of the school is effectively powerless because of the legislative issue of only requiring children to be in school between six and 16 years of age. With the best will in the world, a teacher or a principal can only go so far.

With our amendment, any child enrolled in school aged four or five years of age will come under the auspices of the Educational Welfare Act. That will be a positive move. I appreciate the Government is supporting and will facilitate the Bill. I appreciate there is broad agreement in this House that this Bill is a good piece of work.

As we recall our past and look to our future, we should note that throughout the history of our State it is our children who have been let down time and again. Education is the great liberator and the one thing that will drag a child out of poverty. It is said the most revolutionary act a girl can take is to pick up a book. That is why Boko Haram is kidnapping schoolgirls in Nigeria and that is why Malala Yousafzai's life was threatened with a gunshot as she was on her way to school. A ten year old girl with a book is probably the most dangerous thing in the world.

What we need to encourage in Ireland is the ambition that four and five year old children with books can change the world. However, if they are not in school everyday, if their families are not in a position to send them to school everyday or if they feel that education is down the list of priorities, then there has to be an agency that can empower those parents and guardians to bring those children back to school. Tusla is that agency but I appreciate that it will say it is under-resourced in terms of educational welfare officers. We can have a discussion about the number of educational welfare officers.

Let us defend the rights of four and five olds to their education, if they are enrolled in a school they want to attend. As the Minister knows, primary schools across Ireland are the most wonderful places in the country, regardless of quibbles and complaints about resources and various different things that will always be needed. A person cannot walk into any primary school in the country and not be uplifted. I refer to professionalism, love, care and just the buzz of what children bring to a place. That is what we are trying to achieve. Thankfully, we are achieving that together. We appreciate the Minister's support for this Bill which will become law and four and five year olds will have their educational rights protected.