Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the fact that for Ireland to fulfil the requirements of the Lisbon Agenda, increased resources are needed for post-primary schools in order that they can reduce their class sizes and provide young persons with the supports they need, especially those with learning disabilities and those who are at risk of dropping out of school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32777/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The strategic goal set at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 is to make the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, by 2010. Education and training have a central role in achieving the Lisbon goal. My Department has taken a range of policy initiatives and measures in recent years which contribute to developing the knowledge society and achieving the Lisbon goal.

At post-primary level, significant improvements have been made in the pupil-teacher ratio in recent years. The pupil-teacher ratio has been reduced from 16:1 in the 1996-97 school year to 13.4:1 in the 2004-05 school year. My Department will continue to provide further reductions in the pupil-teacher ratio within available resources and subject to spending priorities within the education sector. Priority will be given to pupils with special needs and those from disadvantaged areas.

As the Deputy is aware, there has been enormous progress made over the past number of years with regard to increasing the number of teachers in our schools who are specifically dedicated to providing education for children with special educational needs. To date, at second level, there are 1,614 whole-time equivalent teachers in place to support pupils with special educational needs. This compares to 200 teachers that were in place in 1998 for such pupils. In addition, there are 1,023 whole-time equivalent special needs assistants in our second level schools.

Since 1 January 2005, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, through its network of locally based special education needs organisers, is responsible for processing any applications for additional special educational needs resources. I am confident that the advent of the NCSE will prove of major benefit in ensuring that all children with special educational needs receive the support they require, when and where they require it.

Given the clear link between early school leaving and continued socio-economic disadvantage in adult life, the Government is determined to do all that is possible to ensure that every child gets all the opportunities and support he or she needs to enable her or her to complete his or her education. To this end, we are providing increased resources for schools in disadvantaged areas to improve their school completion rates by offering extra supports for their students. These include extra educational supports and services such as breakfast clubs and homework supports. Working with parents to promote school attendance is also an important part of the work of the home school community liaison officers appointed to our disadvantaged schools.

Other measures designed to improve school completion include the establishment of the National Educational Welfare Board in 2002 with a remit to monitor school attendance, help parents to get a school place for their child and run promotional campaigns on the importance of finishing school. The priority that this Government attaches to tackling early school leaving is evident from the fact that the budget for the National Educational Welfare Board has been increased by 20% in 2005. A total of €24 million is being provided this year for the school completion programme, which is one of our key interventions to combat early school leaving and educational disadvantage. In addition, my Department supports youth encounter projects that provide educational facilities to young people who have become alienated from the conventional school system. Increased integration will also be promoted between the work of second level schools and centres catering for young early school leavers, particularly Youthreach centres and senior Traveller training centres.

Under the new action plan for educational inclusion, which I launched in May, additional supports are being targeted at children in the most disadvantaged schools to encourage them to stay in school. The key principle of early intervention to identify and help children at risk of leaving school early is a major component of the plan. My Department is committed to further advancing the Lisbon Agenda to the maximum extent possible. To this end, the statement of strategy for my Department is informed by, and explicitly acknowledges, the importance of the Lisbon strategy.