Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes in this House we introduce legislation and are not sure how far it will go, what it will inspire, whether it will be viewed in a particular way or become a political football, or whether we are all just playing games here. Notwithstanding the contributions of Senators Byrne and Horkan, I find myself humbled to be in a room having listened to what Senators Gavan and Ruane had to say about this legislation. Perhaps it will not get very far and maybe the Government will not accord to it the respect it deserves. Perhaps it will fall on the next Stage, maybe it will be amended to death, or maybe the House will fall before it gets any further but, that said, it was worth listening to what Senator Gavan said about moving from the United Kingdom to Ireland, the necessity of buying books and the ideological reality of the choices voters can make. Having heard Senator Gavan, I am reflecting on the question of what in God's name the Senator and I are doing in different political parties.

This Bill is about the power of the State to deliver equality. The market cannot be trusted to deliver equality because it has no conscience. One cannot depend on the private pocket to deliver what are fundamental State services that will lift people out of poverty. I listened to Senator Ruane outline her real-life experience and to her powerful words.Her note of caution to Senators speaks to the real, lived experience of those we are trying to serve. Schools are not about boards of management. As a former teacher and school principal, I venture to suggest that schools are in fact not even about teachers. The best advice I got when I became a school principal was to put the child at the centre of every decision I made. I took that to the extreme and at the end of the school day I used to sit in their seats to see what they saw, how far they were from the blackboards we had in those days and from the windows and toilets. It was to see how cramped they were. One began to realise that the complaints children sometimes had in class were real. They do not just complain for the sake of it, these are real experiences for them. One does not know what the experience of a child is if one is a teacher sitting at a teacher's desk.

As Senator Ruane stated, the board of management runs the school but the whole point of the education exercise is to inspire people in kitchens and sitting rooms across the land to feel that schools are on their side completely. People should feel that the school and the teacher support them every step of the way and that schools, teachers and principals are singing from the same hymn sheet completely to inspire, drive and help children to grow in a way that, perhaps, their parents did not get a chance to. There is then an envelope and a request for a voluntary contribution because something must be paid for and the books must balance. We all live in the real world. I know we have to heat schools. They must be lit and they must function. However, that is a broader question for the State. There should be no humiliation and any possible circumstance of humiliation a child might feel must be eliminated. Humiliation is not something that happens on the day a child goes to school and has to say his or her mother, father or grandparent will give the money when they can. It sticks with one for life. It is not a temporary thing. It does not stick with one for a day or a week. One remembers for the rest of one's life how one felt when one did not have the money and that gets passed to the next generation.

If it has achieved anything, the Bill has at least allowed us to trade comments and experiences and to discuss the beauty of education and the need to ensure that it is there for everyone and does not come with a price tag. If there is any barrier whatsoever to someone's engagement with a school community, it must be removed. If it costs €45 million to deliver free education or €100 million to deliver the school books scheme, that is a small price to pay. In the context of other conversations we are having on broadband and the children's hospital, €100 million is nothing. What a small price to pay when the cost of not doing it is so great. The cost in humiliation and shame is intergenerational and lasts a lifetime.

I appreciate that the Government is not opposing the Bill. I appreciate that Governments and civil servants must make arguments about why things cannot, should not or may not be able to be done. I get all that, but we have opened a conversation for all of us within our various political parties to reassess the value of education, school life, vision, beauty, love, poetry and all the things we say we believe in. When it comes to election time, we can prioritise the public good, public need and public service above the private tax cut. That is what the children and families of Ireland need. There is no price we should consider too costly if it is to eliminate the possibility of any child or parent feeling humiliation.