I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
I wish to share time with Deputies Thomas Pringle, Seamus Healy, Michael Healy-Rae, Mattie McGrath and John Halligan.
Education (Amendment) (Protection of Schools) Bill 2012: Second Stage [Private Members]
Is that agreed? Agreed.
It is an honour for me to attempt, for the first time ever, to make a change to legislation by bringing in this Bill. I thank the Technical Group for supporting me and, most importantly, I thank the group Save Our National Schools, or www.sons.ie, as they call themselves. They have done a massive amount of work on this and I hope it will not turn out to be a waste of time.
The purpose of the Bill is to make specific provision in law to protect schools which, by virtue of providing education to a geographical, cultural, religious or non-denominational community, or to a recognised Gaeltacht area or offshore island, are of such importance that their closure would result in a harmful impact upon that community or area. In a nutshell, the Bill is intended, first, to strengthen the right of children to appropriate and adequate education. One of the requirements is that we do not ask a teacher to teach seven or eight different curricula at the one time. Second, it is intended to strengthen the rights of teachers with regard to multi-grade teaching arrangements as, similarly, it is not fair to expect teachers to teach that many different curricula as it puts too much pressure on and is not fair to the children. The Bill also aims to ensure that educational planning is undertaken on a proactive basis which is not based upon the enrolment of any one year but is rather based upon demographic trends established over a number of years. The idea behind this is that at the end of a school year principals will not be scrambling around trying to find any spare child in the area, as they will know well in advance what needs to be done.
For years, we have had an erosion of small schools and, as a result, the identity of an area is lost forever. This erosion was accelerated in the last budget. I wish to copperfasten the future of these schools through legislation which will compel the Government to think again.
The main point that I predict will be thrown against this Bill is that we are in an economic crisis. There are times when I wonder if the Government actually realises we read the newspapers. We know there is an economic crisis so, please, do not say that to me. We are well aware of it, so fair enough on that one. In an economic crisis, however, why make it worse by thrashing our best assets? It does not make sense. It is suggested that for every €1 spent on primary education, we get €5 back. I do not believe there is anywhere out there bar Greece, if someone bought its bonds, that would give back those yields. However, I believe we would get more back from education than Greece at the end of the day.
One of the best descriptions of the importance of small rural schools comes from the broadcaster Olivia O'Leary, a past pupil of a rural primary school in County Carlow. She speaks sense, this lady, or she did in the last couple of weeks anyway. I heard it on one of her radio columns on RTE Radio 1's "Drivetime" programme. She put it beautifully when she said:
One of the most precious things you can give a child is a sense of place. Civic pride, responsible citizenship, community involvement are all nurtured by the fact that you have a stake in a place and no matter where you go, its map is imprinted on your heart.
Let us hope for our children's sake that nobody takes that map away from them. They are trying to take it away from them and they are threatening their sense of place.
This Bill on its own will not achieve anything - I have no problem with saying that. It must be done in tandem with a real plan for the development of rural Ireland. This is as much for the sake of urban Ireland as for rural Ireland because there is limited cash available and if one area is not working to its best, this will affect another area. These schools are the seeds of this future. Once these unique seeds are lost, they will be gone forever.
Only last week, a school called Mantua national school in Roscommon disappeared off the face of the earth, and with it the identity of that area forever. Mantua - just think of the name. The first person I met from Mantua came into my secondary school. We were marvelling over it, asking "Where is this place, Mantua?", because it sounded like something from another country or another world. That is what we have in Ireland - we have such variety that even places only six or seven miles down the road seem exotic. They will not seem exotic if they do not exist any more.
In his speech on the Fianna Fáil Private Members' motion on small schools in February, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, stated: "In recent years [rural schools and rural areas] have been threatened, not by overt political action but [by] the ever increasing trend towards urbanisation on all five continents." I do not agree with this statement. It is inaction on the development of a sustainable local economy for rural Ireland that has led to its depopulation. It is inaction on the development of real local democracy, in which people can make decisions for themselves, that has led to depopulation. It is the massive inequality in single farm payments, which go to people such as the Goodmans as opposed to the small family farms, that has led to depopulation. This does not happen by accident. When the Minister speaks about trends, he should remember he has a massive influence that can change such trends. Trends do not happen by magic or some omnipotent being making decisions. We the people decide.
The decisions made by the Government at budget time yet again influenced the trend to drive people further into urban areas. I know the majority of my childhood neighbours left our town because they had no choice, not because of a trend. Pretty much every one of them would like to return given half the chance. Ireland is a multi-patterned cloth of a country which is slowly but surely being denuded of its colour and variety. That is a not a good development. From now on, instead of asking why would one need a school for a small population, we need to ask why is there such a small population in the first place.
Hear, hear.
I am delighted to speak on the Education (Amendment)(Protection of Schools) Bill 2012, which I wholeheartedly welcome.
The future of our schools is an integral and national issue which in one way or another affects us all. It is essential our children receive the quality education they deserve to set them on the right path for their futures, as well as the future of this country. Not only that, it is integral that schools serve the specific cultural, religious, geographical or non-denominational needs of the community they serve. This ensures their education is in line with the values, beliefs and needs of a particular community which should not be denied.
We are awaiting the publication of the long awaited value for money review of small schools being conducted by the Department of Education and Skills. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, has reiterated how small schools cannot be immune from the changes that are taking place in the public service and that they will have to work with fewer resources. Thirty eight small schools have had their appeals provisionally upheld by the appeals board, subject to confirmation their actual enrolments in September 2012 reach the required level. There are 84 schools in Donegal alone with four teachers or less. As with most matters, it is the rural community which will suffer the most. These measures would undoubtedly have catastrophic consequences in Donegal leading to closures all over the county, as well as in other rural communities across the country. This is why I welcome that this Bill provides for educational planning to be undertaken on a proactive basis. Instead of being based upon the enrolment of any one year, it will rather be based upon demographic trends established over several years.
While the Department's report earlier this year stated there is no significant relationship between school size and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in schools, this report does not look at the whole picture. Small schools are already accustomed to multi-grade teaching. However, there is a deep concern the amalgamation of schools due to closures would lead to an unsustainable multi-grade arrangement based on enrolment figures. The proposed measures would, accordingly, deny children the right to an appropriate and adequate education, not only regarding quality of education, but also their right to receive an education in accordance with specific values and beliefs within a reasonable geographical distance. This Bill provides for that, particularly in strengthening the rights of teachers with regard to multi-grade teaching arrangements.
I find interesting a recent intervention by a Unionist politician in the British Parliament over the issue of cuts to Protestant schools. Lord Kilclooney has raised the issue in the House of Lords where he asked whether the Irish Government is complying with its human rights obligations under the Good Friday Agreement with its proposals to curtail financial support for Protestant schools. This needs to be examined.
Perhaps most significantly in this Bill is the protection of small schools in Gaeltacht areas and offshore islands, many of which are located in Donegal. Without these provisions, there would be a harmful impact upon the Donegal Gaeltacht and the islands. Section 3 places an obligation on the Minister to ensure the continued operation of a school that is the exclusive provider of education for a geographical, cultural, religious or non-denominational community or for a recognised Gaeltacht or island community. Section 4 provides that a school will not be closed due to a lack of funding for teachers. Section 6 provides that no teacher will have to teach any more than four curricula at any one time. This ensures a school cannot drop below the minimum requirement of teachers.
We have obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and indeed under the Good Friday Agreement to provide for an education for our young people. The Government has to recognise these obligations and step up to the mark in maintaining these standards and providing for all the children of the nation.
Today, at the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the committee heard from the Donegal islands that are threatened with ongoing fishing bans that mean that the islanders cannot provide work for themselves. There is no use resolving these issues if they will not be able to provide an education in their own community for their children. There needs to be a holistic approach to rural life. Life and survival are difficult enough in rural Ireland with emigration, threats to traditional employment and now the threat to schools. This Government should be providing for children maintaining diversity and contributing to a flourishing of rural life, not undermining people's ability to bring up their families in rural areas.
Combined with the cuts to enrolment numbers and teachers, many rural communities are facing difficulties in transporting their children to school as well. The Department does not recognise the parish basis to many rural communities and instead forces children to travel to different parishes to attend school where they may have no connection. This cannot be allowed to continue. All our children should be educated as closely as possible to their communities. A small Gaeltacht school in Meenamara, County Donegal, was forced to close last week. Children now will be bussed outside of their parish to attend a school which the Department describes as their nearest school. This does not recognise the connections the community has to its parish, however. This Bill attempts to address this and provide focused planning in school provision.
I commend the Bill to the House.
I too am delighted to speak on this Private Members' Bill and commend my Independent colleagues for putting this Bill before the House. I also commend them for meeting the various action groups, parents' groups, school communities and even farming organisations across the country, all of which are concerned about the impact of these disastrous cuts on rural Ireland. A small school in a rural community is probably the last bastion of what was a vibrant community. We had the co-operative societies which started off small and local but turned into large conglomerates. What happened is they went abroad, invested hugely, lost their shirts, abandoned the communities from which they came and closed the creameries. Garda stations in rural areas are being closed. Scant regard is given to the delivery of broadband services in rural areas despite several promises of its roll out.
Over the past several years much progress was made in upgrading many rural schools which got significant buy-in from parents and the wider community. Funds were raised through voluntary efforts to ensure rural schools were upgraded and building facilities improved. The CLÁR programme provided funding for play areas. Now, however, the Government is going to throw the baby out with the bathwater by closing many of the schools in question. It is reckless waste.
However, considering the already reckless waste of the public service and Governments, this is nothing new to official Ireland which does not understand the value of money. The upgrading of these facilities received much buy-in in communities which one may not have in urban areas. I am not trying to be "urban against rural" but I am standing up for rural Ireland. I am sick and tired of the attacks on rural Ireland. To hell or to Connacht is a sentiment prevalent in official Ireland. The Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, should understand that sentiment. Officialdom feels it is easier to cut out small rural areas and divide and conquer them. After closing a school, it will promise a bus service for the pupils to the next school which is later removed. CIE also threatens to remove school bus services because road conditions in rural areas are bad, roads which are neglected by central Government and cannot be fixed by local authorities due to lack of funding. Are we going to close the gates on rural Ireland and abandon it? People will not accept this. Thousands of citizens came to the Dáil last November to protest and hundreds of others have attended meetings throughout the country in the meantime. These individuals know that if a school is closed, an entire area can die. Agriculture will be badly affected by what is proposed because no farmer will be able to get someone to marry him and settle down in a rural area. This is due to the fact that people will not live in such areas if they are going to be obliged to drive six, eight or ten miles on dreadful roads to get their children to school. We have been promised buses to transport children to school but these have not been forthcoming.
I advise the Minister of State to go back to the drawing board. He should consider where waste exists in his Department. It is certainly not in small schools. The most brilliant of people have been educated in such schools. The Minister of State should read Alice Taylor's To School Through the Fields. People who were educated in small schools have gone on to become world leaders and major entrepreneurs. Those are the type of individuals we need.
Children should not be made to attend school in the concrete jungles of towns and cities and thereby miss out on understanding nature and its flora and fauna. Those who attend small rural schools witness nature at first hand and come to understand it. They do not believe that money just comes out of a hole in the wall or that milk and potatoes are produced in factories. These children understand nature and life. They love their communities and are part of them. Each Sunday they are to be found in local community fields taking part in sporting and other activities.
Many communities to not have rooms in which people can meet, with the exception of those in areas where the boards of management of local schools will allow them access to their facilities. Coláiste Cois Siúire in my parish has been operating for 21 years in the local national school. The Minister of State should ensure such schools are put to use rather than being closed up for three to four months each year. They should be used every afternoon and evening as educational centres for all. These schools should not be locked up while communities are trying to fund recreation, enterprise and community centres. Schools, as facilities, can be enhanced by the efforts of local communities and boards of management. Sufficient money has never been provided for developments of the type to which I refer but people have always managed to make up the difference themselves.
I am of the view that what is being done is dastardly. What is happening now also occurred in my area in 1969 and the local community never recovered. All the children there were, literally, shoved into a big school. As a result, the old school buildings were allowed go to waste. The problem with the buildings that are now being allowed to go to waste is that massive funding has been provided for them. They are magnificent buildings which would have lasted a long time and which would have provided students, teachers and local communities with a small degree of comfort. Do we want these buildings to be abandoned, as happened in the case of the creameries and the Garda stations?
I was present at a community event at the Commons in Ballingarry on Saturday last. It was held at an old school which had been closed but which was reopening following a refurbishment that was completed on foot of the provision of funding by the local community and through the Leader programme. It now serves as a community centre. Are we going to turn all our schools into such centres? I do not believe so because we will not have people with the relevant expertise and a passion for rural life. We do not have the wherewithal, pride, dignity or self-respect to ensure this will happen. The Minister of State should know from the experience in his own area that it is a case of ní neart go chur le chéile. An approach based on the philosophy of divide and conquer will not succeed.
I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this legislation. I commend Deputy Luke ‘Ming' Flanagan and the Technical Group on bringing it forward. I pay tribute to parents, teachers and others in the Save Our National Schools group who are involved in the campaign to ensure small schools, regardless of whether they are located in Gaeltacht or rural areas or on the islands, are retained. Many such schools are also to be found in towns and cities. I pay particular tribute to Breda Fitzgerald, principal of Newtown Upper national school near Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary, who has been doing Trojan work in respect of this matter in recent months.
The Bill before the House is designed to protect small schools which, by virtue of providing education to a geographical, cultural, religious or non-denominational community, to a recognised Gaeltacht area and or to an offshore island, are of such importance that their closure would result in a harmful impact upon that community or area. It is also designed to strengthen the right of children to appropriate and adequate education and also the rights of teachers in the context of multi-grade teaching arrangements. This legislation is both timely and worthwhile, especially in light of the serious cuts that were announced in the budget.
One of the important matters with which the Bill deals is teacher numbers in rural schools. Using the number of children enrolled in the September of the previous year as a basis for deciding the teaching complement has given rise to serious problems for small schools over the years. The position is particularly difficult this year as a result of the cuts introduced in the budget. It is essential that a new criterion for deciding upon the number of teachers to be employed in small rural schools be put in place. The method put forward in this regard in the Bill would certainly be a good option.
As previous speakers and I have already stated, small schools effectively were targeted for cuts in the budget. These schools are the heart and soul of rural, village, island and Gaeltacht communities. The effect of the cuts to which I refer will be the forced amalgamation of small schools over a period. This will lead to many such schools in rural areas being closed. When the cuts were introduced, no account was taken of the way teachers in smalls schools operate. I refer to teachers who take a number of classes across the spectrum containing children of all abilities, to staff who provide for students with special needs, and to resource teachers. The payback in terms of giving people a good education is massive, in both the short and the longer term. As Deputy Luke ‘Ming' Flanagan stated, the payback in respect of every €1 is €5. In the long term, the level of this payback is even greater.
I am sure that, as has happened in the past, we will be informed by the Minister of State that money is tight and the resources are not available. I have stated on previous occasions - those on the Government benches do not want to listen to what I have to say in this regard - that this is an extremely wealthy country. There are huge amounts of money in the hands of very wealthy people. I refer here to the super-rich. These individuals have both significant incomes and assets. Independent reports from the Central Statistics Office and Credit Suisse show that the wealthiest 5% of people in this country own €239 billion worth of assets. A recent survey by the Central Statistics Office also shows that during the course of the recession, 90% of people have lost income. This is to be expected. In addition, some 25% of people have lost a significant amount of income. There is, of course, the 10% of people identified in the survey to which I refer who have actually increased the level of both their incomes and assets during the course of this most serious recession. These individuals do not pay any wealth or assets tax. It is time the Government obliged extremely wealthy people with significant assets and incomes to pay. These individuals must not be allowed to freeload on the backs of middle and low income earners. Effectively, the latter are paying the taxes the super-wealthy should be paying.
Significant moneys can be taxed through wealth and assets taxes to ensure these schools are properly funded and resourced.
Small rural schools provide one of the most vital services and are severely under threat in these difficult times. Some 18 such schools in my constituency are under the threshold for potential cuts and in danger of losing teachers in the coming years. This is taking place in a country in which 80% of people are without a third level education qualification and the rate of youth unemployment stands at 28.5%. It is scandalous that the Government is continuing a concerted policy of viewing small schools as liabilities instead of as assets. That is the view of many. The level of disadvantage children in peripheral rural communities face is being compounded by ongoing cutbacks and increases in the pupil-teacher ratio which directly affect the quality of education students receive. All independent bodies have stated this and that we are reaching the stage where, in 2012, the education of our children is being affected. We should carefully ponder this point. On a number of occasions the troika has stated it does not wish to see cuts in education because of the potential to create jobs. The more educated a person is, the better his or her chance of finding a job. It is deplorable that we do not have the foresight to see the long-term damage we are doing to our children's education through cuts in education, particularly in small schools.
Parents are angry at the Government and scared for the future of their children. The Save our National Schools campaign is gathering momentum across the country as the gravity of the cuts hits parents. They are not prepared to see €140 million hacked from the education budget for next year, with a possible further €220 million over two years after that. The Minister must be aware of the anticipated surge in enrolments. By 2018, an extra 70,000 children will demand to be educated, but it will be impossible to provide it if we cut back on the numbers of teachers and small schools. The number of children in primary school is expected to surge by 45,000, while there will be 25,000 more students at post-primary level. These statistics support what I have always said, that quality of life in a country will always be judged by its health service and education system. How do we expect the country to thrive in the future if we cut back on education levels? It will not happen. We are on course for disaster if we think that, by saving a few hundred million euro now and denying a substantial number of children the education they deserve, we will benefit the country in years to come.
I have met many school principals and they are open to discussing alternatives. Alternative measures to cut costs include pooling resources, sharing secretaries and administrative duties. Many schools have spoken about these options and operating in clusters, an option which has been discussed in Waterford.
I draw the attention of the Minister to the success of small schools in Finland, for instance. He should examine the history of education in there, where the government opted to rationalise the administration and management of small schools in remote areas without closing one school. This took place during a downturn. Scandinavian countries are held up as models for educational success and regularly top international school league tables for basic skills. They have not closed a single school. Perhaps the Minister might explore these possibilities.
No child in this country is to blame for the financial mess we are in. This point should sink in to every Member. By refusing to acknowledge the importance of small schools and the relationship with the local community, the Government has given the go-ahead for the piecemeal corrosion of a family friendly, community-based and valuable model of education. If the Minister speaks to people in the know and at the coalface, teachers will tell him that children's education has been affected by the cutbacks made in recent years. This cannot be a good indication for the future of the country.
I thank the Technical Group for allowing me speaking time. I also thank Deputy Luke ‘Ming' Flanagan and his excellent staff for the work they have done in bringing this Bill before Dáil Éireann.
Given the importance of this debate, particularly for rural Deputies, it is disappointing that I am talking to the Minister of State and only one Deputy on the Government side. Where is everyone else? This is an extremely important issue. The network of small schools survived in horribly bad times. Last Saturday I was at a school which was celebrating the fact that it was 150 years in existence. Let us think back over the 150 years and the bad times the principals and teachers at the school saw. In times gone by children had to bring a sod of turf with them to heat the school. That was the rule. However, the children survived and received a good, sound and solid education in a safe environment near their homes. It is said the country is broke, but let us compare the Ireland of today with the country of those young children. They had no socks and shoes on their feet; they wore a pair of short raggy trousers and had a sod of turf in their hand to heat the school for the day. The Government has choices to make. We are aware of the situation it walked into when it took over. However, one of the choices it is making is to attack the education system at local level by closing small schools. Why is it doing this? What are we saving if we close a small school? We save on the electricity bill because teachers must be paid in other schools. The school I attended last Saturday in Lauragh has witnessed major investment during the years by the State and by fund-raising and holding activities throughout the year. It has a new roof and playground. Everything is perfect in it. Why would a Government which is supposed to be intelligent and smart and forward thinking close a school? Governments have made stupid mistakes. Take the time when Governments thought it was a good idea to close down the railway network. If that infrastructure could be put back today, and those trains were rolling, taking traffic from the roads and offering scenic travel for tourists, it would be a massive boost to the economy. Governments, however, thought it was the right thing to close down the railway networks, pull up the tracks and leave them abandoned and let them go to hell. That was a mistake. Now the Government wants to make the same mistake with our small schools. When they are gone, it will be impossible to open them again and everyone will then admit that it was the wrong decision.
Take the quality of teaching a young person gets in one of those schools. It is more personal and safer. The time a child is most vulnerable and impressionable is when he leaves his house on the first day and goes into a junior infants class. If he is going to a place where he knows all the other students, has grown up with them and met them at mass and sports events, where he knows the teachers and everyone lives locally, it is a lovely safe atmosphere for him to go into. If those schools are closed and amalgamated into larger schools, those lovely small children will be going into a place that will be daunting and terrifying in many cases because there will be so many other people there from different areas, people they do not know and know nothing about. That interaction is fine further on in the educational system but at a younger age it is better for them to be nearer to home. If a child goes to one of those schools and has a learning difficulty or a problem, it will be identified much quicker when there is a smaller group of children in the class.
Children are being herded into larger classes, which the Government is achieving by changing pupil-teacher ratios and the rules on school transport. That is how it is going to close the schools. No one on the Government benches will stand up and say it is going to close a particular number of schools. They are not men enough to do that. By meddling with the rules, however, the Government will close the schools by stealth. That is why I commend Deputy Luke ‘Ming' Flanagan on bringing this Bill before the House, so we can debate it and people on the Government side can nail their colours to the mast. This is about a choice. Are Government Members in favour of retaining the small school networks in the country or are they not? If they are, they should vote for this Bill and if they oppose those schools and think it is okay to pursue a policy of closing them down, they should vote with the Government.
I thank the Technical Group for introducing this Bill and I compliment SOSS, Save our Small Schools, on the great work it has done organising meetings up and down the country.
Deputy Flanagan's Bill would keep schools open even when there are not enough pupils to sustain them. It displays a lack of awareness of funding arrangements for small schools and, worst of all, it ignores basic realities about the state of the economy. Therefore, the Government will be opposing this Bill.
We cannot begin this debate without restating the overall financial and budgetary context that Ireland is operating in. The biggest challenge facing the Government is to step back from the edge of national insolvency. We are working hard to ensure we can pass on to our children a country that has regained once and for all its economic independence.
The House should be aware that almost 80% of the education budget goes on pay and pensions. Members should also be aware that we must find places and teachers for the additional 70,000 pupils coming into our schools over the next six years. Members also know that we have to reduce the numbers working in the public sector. We simply do not have the resources available to us to maintain all our services at current levels. The Private Members' Bill being debated here this evening is another example of how the Opposition fails to grasp this stark reality.
The most recent data from my Department show that 19% of the State's 3,165 primary schools have fewer than 50 pupils and 46% have fewer than 100 pupils. Deputies will be aware that a value for money review on small primary schools is currently being finalised in the Department. I expect that the report of the review should be available after the summer recess. I regret that it has not been available sooner to fully inform this debate but it has involved very detailed technical work.
The review will take account of diversity of provision, ethos of schools, parental choice, the language of instruction, travel distances, transport costs and the impact of schools on dispersed rural communities. It will also examine the costs of running small schools and the educational outcomes associated with small schools. Consideration is also being given to the needs of local communities and wider social and cultural factors. Public consultations were conducted as part of the review. A large response was received and a common theme from the submissions from the public was the important role that schools play in the social fabric of rural communities and this something that all of us are fully aware of. When the review is published, the Minister's intention is to lay it before the Houses to give an opportunity for Deputies and Senators to have a wide ranging debate on its outcomes and proposals.
On the children's rights provisions of the Bill proposed this evening, I might recall for the House that the Government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children on 30 September 1990 and ratified it on 28 September 1992. By ratifying the UNCRC, Ireland has committed itself to working at national level and to international measures to achieve its objectives. For example, the principles addressed in the articles referred to in the proposed Bill are consistent with the underpinning principles of the existing legislative and policy framework in the education and training sector. Further development of the broad policy framework will be considered as part of the planned development of a White Paper in early 2013 in the context of the Government's response to the forum on patronage and pluralism in the primary school sector and also in the development of a regulatory framework for school enrolment. Other relevant initiatives include the work being undertaken by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to develop a new children and young people's policy framework, which will succeed the previous national children's strategy.
Deputies will be aware that the Government is committed to strengthening children's rights and the constitutional referendum on children scheduled for later in the year is a key commitment in the programme for Government. Given the scope and relevance of new initiatives under way across a number of Government Departments, and the fact that the convention is already binding on the State under international law, it is unnecessary to proceed with the amendments to the Education Act as proposed by Deputy Flanagan.
I want to return to the central theme of this proposed legislation, which relates to the resourcing of schools, and in particular the allocation of teachers. In February of this year, we debated the budget measures related to the teacher staffing schedule in small schools. Deputy Flanagan is merely repeating that debate. A third of all public sector employees in this State work in the education sector. It is simply not possible to completely exempt staffing levels in education from the Government's need to reduce expenditure.
Achieving savings in the education budget has required very difficult decisions to be made. This is particularly the case at a time when the school-going population is increasing, and there will be more difficult decisions in the next budget and the one after. The extremely favourable staffing provision for small schools was put in place when resources were plentiful and at a time of demographic dividend when enrolments were falling. This is no longer possible given our budgetary constraints and rapidly rising school population. We may wish it were otherwise but reductions in staffing numbers will continue to play a part in expenditure consolidation.
The last budget included a phased increase in the pupil threshold for the allocation of classroom teachers in small primary schools but those changes were made so that we can continue to sustain small schools, rather than to close them. The Opposition, which had been predicting wholesale closure of schools, got it wrong. As the Opposition well knows, there are school closures or amalgamations virtually every year. For the coming school year, five schools have indicated their intention to close; last year there were three closures and the year before there were four school closures. This is hardly the widely predicted death of rural Ireland. If one listened to Deputies opposite, one would conclude that we intended to padlock rural school gates up and down the country but the facts prove otherwise.
The only thing that is changing for small schools from next September is that their average class size will no longer be as advantageous as they have been in the past. It is no more and no less than that. The schools will still exist. It is not sustainable for the Department to continue to provide, for example, a second classroom teacher for a school that has 12 pupils, as was the case. Could anyone honestly say that we can afford to have a staffing schedule threshold that provides for a full-time classroom teacher with an average as low as six pupils per classroom - a better ratio than applies in most classes in special schools. Even when all of the phased increases are implemented, the threshold for a second teacher at 20 pupils will still be significantly lower than the minimum of 28 pupils that was required for the appointment of a second teacher in small schools prior to the late 1990s. Some teachers in small schools will call for those exceptionally favourable arrangements to continue, but one could ask how fair it is to taxpayers or to their teaching colleagues in larger schools - some of whom have to teach 30 or more pupils in their classrooms.
I accept that no school likes to lose a teacher and that the INTO and teachers like small classes. However, under the Under Croke Park agreement teachers have been given certain guarantees on basic pay and no compulsory redundancy but, in return, like all other public servants, they must demonstrate flexibility. I cannot agree with the concept being advanced by Deputy Flanagan in the Bill that some teachers should have legal rights to teach in particularly small classes. Deputy Flanagan's argument is that teachers' rights are aligned with children's rights in regard to multi-grade classes. The argument implicitly impugns the work of the many able teachers who have served their pupils well in such multi-grade classes over the years. I attended a two-teacher school with a multi-grade class. Deputy Flanagan's parliamentary assistant attended a similar school three miles from there. Both of us received an excellent education in that environment because of the commitment and talent of the teachers involved.
There are aspects of the Bill on which I accept the basic point at issue while not fully accepting the mechanism being advocated to deal with the point. The issue of how particular enrolments are used to determine the staffing allocation is a case in point. Earlier this year we noted arguments made by Deputies and others that since enrolment on the 30 September in the previous year determined the teacher allocation for the following September that schools due to lose a teacher might in fact have more pupils enrolled next September. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, responded by making the appeal process accessible to small schools, and in particular to those schools that were projecting increased enrolments that would be sufficient to allow them to retain their existing classroom posts in the longer term.
I do not accept the proposed linkage with the previous census as a basis for determining teacher allocation for any one year. The measure implemented this year is more responsive, as it captures those who are expected to attend. Census data are a snapshot in time and cannot identify those who have either left an area since the census was carried out or those that have come to live in the area more recently. Furthermore, parents may choose to drive by the nearest school in some instances to have their children attend another school.
The Department utilises a geographical information system, GIS, to analyse demographics and school enrolment data. GIS allows the Department to conduct detailed analysis on the demographics of each part of the country, and enables the Department to model a range of forecast scenarios for each area for the coming years, and to assess the likely changes to the school-going population in those areas. Given that the Department already uses multi-layered data sources for planning school infrastructural needs, I do not believe that the provisions of the Bill proposed by Deputy Flanagan in this regard are warranted.
Public policy has historically recognised the special position of island schools that are the sole educational support to island communities. The budget measure did not alter the special arrangements for such schools with three or fewer teachers. Unlike most schools, in the event that a reduction in the pupil numbers of an island school will result in the loss of the second or third teacher in the school, the post may be retained subject to certain pupil retention levels. That means that in the case of the second mainstream post the total number of pupils must be at eight or above and the school must be the only primary school remaining on the island. In the case of all other primary schools for the coming school year the figure will be 14 pupils not eight. In the case of the third classroom post, the total number of pupils must be at 45 or above where the school is the only primary school remaining on the island. That compares to all other primary schools where the figure is 51 for the coming school year of 2012 to 2013.
Public policy can be responsive to the needs of small schools but this must be done in a reasonable, balanced way and above all be realistic. It is important that the staffing levels in small schools are set at an affordable and sustainable level in particular in these difficult and challenging times. It is by doing so that we underpin the future of small schools. Let me conclude with one simple fact. In September, only 32 small schools out of 3,200 primary schools nationally will lose a teacher as a consequence of the budget measures. That gives the lie to Opposition claims about small schools losing hundreds of teachers and there being some kind of supposed attack on rural areas. Populism and rhetoric are not a solution to the challenges this country faces.
Hear, hear.
We have been subjected to that over and over again by certain Opposition Members but not all.
Just the irresponsible ones.
We are working hard to address the challenges we face and to secure the future of this country for our children.
I wish to share time with Deputies Michael McCarthy and Jim Daly.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
Deputy Flanagan has warned against the point but it is crucial to debate the economic difficulties of the country at the moment. Anyone who attended a rural school knows what an abacus is and knows that if there is more on one side than the other then things are not right. Unfortunately, the economic difficulties are irrevocably connected to the Bill and the overall issue. I accept that rural schools have been faced with reductions in resources. Let us call it as it is. However, rural schools have also benefited in ways that larger schools have not. For example, smaller schools enjoy a significantly lower pupil-teacher ratio than larger schools. The ratio is 28:1 on average. I attended a school which had 44 pupils per class in the 1980s. We have it down to 28:1 at the moment and that is to the benefit of the people of the country and to education that we keep it at that level and strive, on average, to lower it. Reductions in teacher numbers in some rural areas have been disheartening but the current economic climate does not lend itself to continuing in the same fashion as previously.
I compliment the Minister of State on his speech. He highlighted in an articulate manner the argument for the Department of Education and Skills taking the steps it has with a view to giving an education to every member of society in an equal manner. Some Opposition spokespersons have made worthwhile comments on protecting education in rural areas and also the need for education as one of the pathways to recovery for the country. To reinforce the point, out of the 3,200 primary schools nationally, approximately 32 small schools will lose a teacher as a consequence of the budget measure relating to small schools. Those 32 schools account for 1% of the total, although it is 1% that I would prefer it not to affect. I, the Labour Party and the Government are committed to rural schools and their importance to communities across the country.
We must examine rural schools using a five-prong approach, in terms of geographical, parish, sporting, transport and expenditure factors. I cannot elaborate on that within five minutes but I have spoken to the people of Kerry at length at meetings throughout the county. I have met parents and boards of management. It is to the benefit of society for everyone to get a good education. Some people to whom I spoke referred to the benefit of being in a small classroom with an excellent teacher for a number of years. However, the corollary was also the case, which was to the detriment of some to whom I spoke. Everyone must be entitled to a good standard of education. I do not tell a lie when I say that I was contacted by a parent whose son was the only boy in a school with 14 pupils. The parents believed it was not a healthy situation but that they could not remove him from the school as the other parents were afraid of the pupil-teacher ratio falling to a level that would jeopardise the school.
Numerous difficult and regrettable decisions have been made and at times they have cost more than they were worth. The budget is about trying to regain the sovereignty of the country. I have attended public meetings and in terms of budgets I am aware that nothing we are doing is for the purpose of being popular. I can honestly state that I am making every effort to help our country to regain its sovereignty and to return it to a position in which the pupil-teacher ratio for every child can be reduced, teachers are better and everyone looks forward to the future. This is an unparalleled time. It is not a recession, but a crisis. When a country loses its independence, it has a big problem.
I wish to highlight an issue. While I am against the Bill, I bring to the attention of the House an important matter involving rural school transport in my constituency, specifically in respect of the 18 children of Abbeydorney and Ardfert who will newly attend Causeway comprehensive school in September. They have been told they will not be provided with school transport and that there will be no room for them in the coming school year. Many of them have siblings who attend Causeway and travel there by Bus Éireann bus. It is expected that this issue will prevail for a prolonged period. Schools in Tralee have told parents that, since the area's primary schools are not feeder schools for its larger schools, the pupils therefrom will not be considered. They have been left in limbo. Most of the pupils in question live further than 4.8 km away from their schools. I will revert to the Department on this matter as it is not acceptable for two children from a single family to board a bus while a parent must find a new school and drive the family's third child to it.
There are many complexities to the issue of rural schools and the transport thereto. Government backbenchers will take on board any criticism, but we need constructive help if we are to solve the problem.
Let us contextualise. The budget for the Department of Education and Skills is approximately €8 billion, four fifths of which is spent on pay and pensions. We should not lose sight of this fact. Many fine contributions have been made on all sides of the House. Some members of the Opposition hold genuine opinions regarding this matter and a number of them have made good proposals on what should and, in particular, should not be done. This is welcome, but we must bear in mind the Minister for Education and Skills has at least one hand tied behind his back.
There has been a great deal of hyperbole regarding this issue. Despite the fact we all knew the extent of the economic crisis in February 2011, there are some who choose to ignore it for their own reasons and engage in a debate that, by and large, is a sham. The factual situation is different from what could have obtained had there been a continuation of the political chaos of late 2010 and early 2011. We have stabilised the economy and the public finances. There has been good news in recent weeks, not least of these being the result of the European summit talks last Friday, the Personal Insolvency Bill 2012 and the renegotiation of the EU-IMF bailout agreement. All of these were unimaginable a few short months ago. None of the detractors has clarified the fundamental misunderstanding of and erroneous predictions about whether the Government could achieve these improvements. While I say this in deference to people who are in trouble, let us concentrate on the task in hand and bear in mind the Government's dedication to this matter.
I have a number of issues with Deputy Luke ‘Ming' Flanagan's Bill, but I do not want to take away from his good intentions. Section 2 seeks to include the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Education Act, but the section is poorly drafted, given that Ireland ratified the convention, without reservation, in 1992. There is no doubting the Government's commitment to children's rights, not least because the referendum on same will be held later this year. The scope and relevance of the new initiatives under way across a wide variety of Departments render this section redundant.
Several months ago, the House debated a robust appeals process. As a result of a slight increase in the enrolment threshold, 73 small schools were due to lose one teacher each next September. When the Department of Education and Skills gave them the opportunity to appeal the decision, 62 schools did so. The primary staffing appeals board assessed their applications and decided provisionally to approve the appeals of 41 schools. As such, a total of 32 small schools out of a total of 3,100 primary schools will lose one teacher each next September as a result of the budget measure. It gives me no satisfaction to point out that they only equate to 1%, but we need to put the situation in context. While the loss of the posts will undoubtedly cause difficulties, it is a far cry from the decimation of rural Ireland as predicted inside and outside the Chamber at budget time.
Section 4 ignores the fact that small schools benefit from significantly enhanced funding arrangements. All schools are provided with minimum capitation payments based on 60 pupils, regardless of actual numbers. Any sensible person would acknowledge this. Small schools incur fixed costs, which are reflected in the arrangement, and the section has no basis in reality.
Five schools have indicated their intention to close in the coming school year. Three schools closed last year and four closed the previous year. The idea that the Government is singling out small schools is mistaken.
I began my contribution by referring to the four fifths of the Minister's budget. We must bear in mind that they are protecting the jobs and salaries of the people working in the sector. The budget is not intended to serve the needs of wage militants. Let us focus the debate on what is right for the children.
Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis chun labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo. I attended a small rural primary school in Drinagh many moons ago and taught in a small school in Leap in County Cork as well as in a number of other schools. I was the principal of a small rural school in Skibbereen before entering political life. During my time as principal, I was acutely aware of the job's responsibilities. As a public representative, I am once again conscious of those responsibilities.
Priorities are all important and it would be remiss of me not to mention that I was reminded of them last weekend, which I spent in my home town of Clonakilty where flooding caused devastation and cost many people their businesses and homes. It would not take long for such an event to refocus one's mind on the real priorities. As a public representative, I have a responsibility to stand up and be counted. It is easy to be against everything and for nothing, but there is a job of work to be done and I am passionate about being honest with people. They will get a chance to have their say on me in a few years' time.
I believe in menu option politics. We cannot be against everything. We must stand up and consider the lesser of all evils. My priority in education, the area about which I am most passionate, is and always has been the provision of resources to children with special needs. Every opportunity I have to speak on educational matters, I plead with the Minister and Minister of State to continue protecting resources in this regard. I acknowledge the resources that have been provided to date to the most vulnerable children in the education system.
My primary focus in this debate is the child. I do not mean to be smart, as I have a great deal of respect for many of Deputy Luke ‘Ming' Flanagan's opinions on this matter, but the Bill lacks an emphasis on the child. School buildings, communities, teachers' conditions and so on receive more emphasis. The child and what is best for him or her must be at the heart of this debate. There is a difference between better educational practice and best educational practice. The best practice is to have no more than two curriculum streams in any single classroom and to have no more than two classes per teacher. Anything more would dilute best educational practice.
Deputy Spring referred to children's social skills. Team sports and learning are important, but a variety of teachers in a building is a necessity. Teachers matter, not the school. A minimum of four teachers teaching eight classes is the maximum. I am passionate in this regard.
There is no such thing as a bad school or a good school, but there is such a thing as an underperforming teacher. In many cases a teacher may be underperforming and parents are correct if they are not happy for their child to have the same teacher for four years. That is far from ideal and not what we should be seeking in future. This is an opportunity for schools to consider the future of education.
Many parishes in my constituency have two or three different schools competing for resources and students, and parents are exercising choice in moving children to different schools depending on the teachers available. I want to see us grasping the nettle and looking ahead at the future provision of education for our children. We must consolidate rural education. If the position continues where each school is fighting for students and limited resources, they will all choke eventually and there will be no rural education. If all the rural schools close we will have to go to schools in towns. I want to ensure we can retain rural education. If two or three schools in a five-mile radius are struggling, they can consider how to provide the best education for children in future.
It is foolhardy to speak about the decimation of rural Ireland. I was a teacher in 1996 and the figures that will be achieved at the end of these changes to the pupil-teacher ratio are the same as those achieved when I was teaching. Those were not bizarre teaching conditions and we were not in the dark ages; it was the recent past. Having 20 students and two teachers, a ratio of 10:1, is hardly unfair or unjustified at this time. There is an example of a school in my constituency that has a teacher with the three classes of junior infants, senior infants and first class and a total of 34 students. Three miles up the road a school has two teachers and 17 students, with one teacher having eight students. There is something wrong in that case and the Constitution cherishes all our children equally.
The child and educational welfare must be at the heart of this debate. As a parent and educator, I believe the limited resource pool of teachers must be applied evenly and fairly across the board to every student. Having one teacher with six or seven students in one room and another teacher with up to 36 students in another room is unfair, inequitable and it cannot continue. Such a process is not in the best interests of the child in the classroom. I will be voting in the best interests of all our children.
I wish to share time with Deputy Ó Cuív.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. The protection of small schools is critical, and I know the Save Our National Schools, SONS, campaign, including Billy Standish and his colleagues, has done good work in creating awareness of the difficulties that will face many communities with the gradual implementation of the staffing schedule changes.
On many occasions I stated clearly that the 2012 budget unfairly targeted rural communities. The Government's plans to introduce staffing cuts in small schools with fewer than five teachers will result in many communities losing their local schools. In the decade leading up to 2011 there was a very substantial and welcome increase in resources provided to small schools, including a major increase that almost doubled personnel. That policy was implemented by previous Governments because we valued the critical role of the small school in the local community, and it contributed to rural regeneration.
Local primary schools are an irreplaceable part of community life. The network of schools with fewer than four teachers must be protected. In January this year, I moved a Private Members' motion on behalf of Fianna Fáil outlining very clearly the need to support and protect small schools and for the Government to reverse its decision to introduce the new, discriminatory staffing schedules.
In the past six months the cuts being imposed in our schools have rightly become the cause of concern to many school communities. I attended a meeting in west Cavan last Sunday morning where I expected to meet a deputation of six to eight people but the local parish hall was full of people from the wider community. Those in attendance included parents and people with no children attending the school but who were interested in their community. These people value the service provided by the school and are worried that a rural parish will be left without a school. A number of decades ago there were six schools in the parish but the people are worried that the lone school will face closure over the next few years. There is much angst and concern among the people of Glangevlin, where the school in question is Curravagh, and it was evident to me and the other public representatives who attended.
It is true we have a high number of primary schools in proportion to population. That is the result of many factors, including our population dispersal pattern and, more importantly, the role of primary school as a focal point in the local community. The community school link is a core feature of our society and we must continue to retain that link. These schools help maintain the viability of many rural areas and taking away the school in a community removes the community's heart and future.
The previous Minister responsible for education matters commenced the value for money review on the provision of small primary schools mentioned by the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon. The main approach in the review was to find the best way of supporting those schools. I understand that review will not be published until after the summer but it should have been published before staffing schedule changes were made and included consultation with relevant unions and management bodies. Was any impact analysis carried out in the Department? It would appear not. Small schools received a stark message from the Department when they were advised "to consider their future" and "to assess their options for amalgamation".
It is clear that the changes are blunt in nature and the forced cuts are based on numbers alone, without any consideration for school ethos, the geography of an area or the impact on a community of removing such a key amenity. These cuts will have a disproportionate and severe impact on minority faith schools, such as Church of Ireland schools and gaelscoileanna. This policy is completely at odds with the Minister's stated intention of widening patronage. I outlined in this House previously that there are 200 Protestant primary schools in the State, with 65% of Church of Ireland schools affected by these changes. A Church of Ireland minister recently wrote:
Many of our schools in rural Ireland are small schools located in dispersed and isolated rural areas. The changes in pupil-teacher ratio means that it will become virtually impossible for many small schools to function due to staffing cuts and these draconian austerity measures will seriously undermine the Irish education system that has been built so well up to now.
The decision to introduce phased adjustments at primary level in 2012 to staff schedules for schools with between one and four teachers will lead to a dramatic increase in the pupil-teacher ratio in rural primary schools, leading in turn to large numbers of closures and amalgamations. I have the privilege of representing in this House two of the southern Ulster counties. Within the community of minority churches, there is widespread concern that there are serious difficulties in trying to retain those schools. That must be addressed.
Decisions on staffing levels cannot just be about value for money and achieving savings. Research has indicated that children do well in these schools, and the social and emotional development of children in small schools is stronger. There is also greater parental involvement in small schools, with communities and parents getting actively involved in school activities. This was evident at the meeting I described in the parish in my county last Sunday, as the entire community was in the parish hall expressing concern about the future of the local school.
Multigrade and multi-class teaching has its challenges but there are considerable learning positives to grouping children of different ages and grades. The Department statistics indicate that approximately 40% of all primary school pupils are taught in multi-class situations. Even in a one-grade class there is always a considerable range of abilities, maturity and needs. No two children can be considered as being at the same level in all areas. The small school provides a sense of belonging where each child is valued for his or her unique abilities. Multi-class teaching brings together children of different ages and development. International studies show that the outcomes for children in small schools are on a par with, if not better than, larger schools. Studies in our country have the same conclusions.
It is not true to claim that there would be a gradual increase in the pupil-teacher ratio in small schools. These changes will represent a large increase. For example, a Gaeltacht scoil will now need 83 pupils instead of 76 pupils to qualify for four teachers this year. The new retention figures published by the Department are inequitable. A large school with 12 teachers needs a further 28 pupils to become a 13 teacher school. However, a two teacher school that seeks to become a three teacher school this September will need an additional 37 pupils and a three teacher school seeking to become a four teacher school will need an additional 30 pupils. Why are small schools punished compared to larger schools? These new retention figures will make it more difficult for small schools to expand.
Tá áthas orm deis a bheith agam cúpla focal a rá i dtaobh an Bhille seo agus ba mhaith liom an Grúpa Teicniúil a mholadh as ucht an Bhille seo a chur os comhair an Tí anocht.. The Minister's actions last Christmas show his value system. He hit urban DEIS 1 programme schools with one hand and then he hit small rural schools with the other, but advantaged larger schools were left unscathed as a result of the decisions taken by the Minister. He made these decisions without any policy analysis, or, if he has a policy analysis, he has not made it clear except for one policy, that is, he wants small schools to amalgamate.
I find this extraordinary because he made those decisions while a value for money audit was going on in his Department. He did not decide to meet the requirements of one year's budget although he could have done this by spreading the burden throughout the school system. He could have made the savings in this small way. Instead he made the decision for four years without reference to the value for money audit. The Minister does not actually know the value he will get for whatever savings he believes he will get because he has not received the report yet. This is bizarre decision making of the highest order.
The Department is meant to refer to outputs. The new buzz word in the Estimates process is "outputs". However, the Department was oblivious to outputs when it made this decision. As my colleague pointed out, these schools have been shown to work time and again. In other words, if one puts in the money, one gets the results at the end of the chain. Irrespective of parents' backgrounds, a phenomenal level of these children either go on to a trade or third level education. If we are to consider value for money, surely we should accept that the idea of education is to give young people choice in life. Instead, this is what the children of the small schools of Ireland get.
A greater issue is at stake, that is, the community. Many people do not understand the value of a community because they cannot measure it or see it. Having grown up in the city and then moved to a small rural community, I can testify to the great benefit to the country, urban and rural, of a strong community. I am keen for us to put more effort into building up communities within urban areas where there are high levels of social deprivation. Only in the building up of communities will we find a solution to our problems. This can only occur where there are strong communities and a togetherness and where there is a seamless totality between the wider community of parents, teachers and pupils, all of whom belong to a community where supports are in place. They can work and yield tangible results for the children who emerge from these schools. However, they may decide none of it is worthwhile because the Minister has a principled objection to rural Ireland and small schools.
There are many things I could say about this issue. I support the comments of my colleague on Protestant schools. It is extraordinary that we are debating this issue on the day a signal event took place in Seanad Éireann, that is, when the Grand Master of the Orange Order addressed the House. He levelled one criticism against this State. He said many things had happened and changed for the better. He specified in particular things that happened under the previous Government. The one black mark he mentioned, however, was the decimation of what he saw as the small Protestant communities along the Border.
This is a country where reconciliation and peace have been achieved and where there has been a great emphasis on building links between all communities to make everyone feel they are a part of the State and cherished. Despite this, the Government seems to be hell-bent on trying to alienate a community that passionately wants to be fully part of our State but believes it is now being acted against in a discriminatory way. Ansin, tagaimid chuig an Ghaeltacht. Tá an Rialtas ag rá go bhfuil sé chun an straitéis 20 bliain don Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn, go bhfuil sé ag seasamh léi agus go bhfuil an Ghaeltacht thar a bheith tábhachtach. Tá a fhios ag an Aire Stáit, bhí mé thiar leis i Leitir Mealláin, agus tá a fhios aige go bhfuil na scoileanna beaga Gaeltachta riachtanach do thodhchaí na teanga agus go bhfuil sé níos fusa sna scoileanna beaga an Ghaeilge a chaomhnú mar theanga scoile. Chomh maith leis sin, sna ceantair atá ar imeall na Gaeltachta, má dhéantar iarracht comhnascadh a dhéanamh, is é an Béarla a bheidh in uachtar, ní hí an Ghaeilge. Na hiarrachtaí móra atá á ndéanamh ag daoine sna ceantair ina bhfuil meascan gasúr le Gaeilge agus gan Ghaeilge ag dul ar scoil, scriosfar ar fad iad. Ach is cuma leis an Rialtas. Níl aon údar aige cén fáth go bhfuil sé seo á dhéanamh.
I ask one final thing of the Minister of State. I have disagreed with what has been done since the beginning. I believe the decisions made for this year were wrong. I know that the issue of the school in Inis Meáin was raised with the Minister of State in the Seanad last week. It is a scandal that there will be eight pupils in that island school but the Department will not allow the second teacher to remain although they agreed to give up all the learning support hours. I call on the Minister of State to put the remainder of this four year plan into abeyance until we see the value for money report. We should have an opportunity to debate the report and examine it in detail at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education so that we can test absolutely whether the policies are being followed by the Department in the interests of the children of the country or whether they are simply Civil Service decisions endorsed by the Minister which have taken no account of the sociological, social and educational effects of young children in rural Ireland.
Tá mé an-bhródúil go raibh seans agam obair leis an bhfeachtas Sábháil Ár Scoileanna Beaga. Tá an-taithí agam ar an bhfadhb seo. Thug mé cuairt ar an méid sin scoileanna i gContae na Mí agus i gContae na hIarmhí agus tá faitíos an domhain ar mhuintir na tuaithe faoin mbeartas atá an Rialtas seo ag cur i bhfeidhm. Tá mo chomhghleacaithe, na Teachtaí Seán Crowe agus Pearse Doherty, le caint faoi na gnáthscoileanna beaga amárach ach ba mhaith liom díriú isteach ar na scoileanna Gaeltachta.
Is scoileanna beaga iad formhór na scoileanna Gaeltachta, rud a chuireann sa bhearna bhaoil iad sa chóras nua atá á chur i bhfeidhm. Deirtear go bhfuil trí oide nó níos lú in 70% de na scoileanna beaga.
Tá na scoileanna seo lárnach do oideachas na bpáistí atá cóngarach dóibh. Cosúil leis na gnáth scoileanna, tá siad tábhachtach ó thaobh láidreacht an phobail. Tá siad mar chroí atá ag preabadh i gceantair iargúlta atá tar éis an-chuid a fhulaingt. Ceantair iad a chaill daoine don imirce agus a chaill poist, stáisiúin gardaí, siopaí, oifigí poist agus, fiú, tithe tábhairne. Tá an-chuid fulaingthe ag na ceantair sin. Anois, tá an Rialtas ag bualadh an bhuille seo orthu. Tá na scoileanna ar an áis dheireannach chun beocht a choimeád sna pobail seo. In ainneoin sin, beidh bagairt uafásach orthu.
Tá ról eile ag na scoileanna Gaeltachta, ról eisceacht nach féidir cur ina ionad. Tá na scoileanna Gaeltachta ar cheann des na príomh úirlisí chun an Ghaeilge sa Ghaeltacht a cosaint beo, chun fuinneamh a spreagadh, agus chun an Gaeilge a seachadadh don chéad ghlúin eile. De réir an staidéar chuimsitheach theangeolaíoch ar úsáid na Gaeilge, beidh an Ghaeilge sa Ghaeltacht marbh i gceann 20 bliain, muna dtugann an Rialtas tacaíocht agus cúnamh di.
Aontaíonn móramh na ndaoine sa tír seo gur rud dlúth riachtanach í an Ghaeilge dár bhféiniúlacht. Is í an Ghaeltacht tobar na teanga. Muna maireann an Ghaeilge mar theanga nádúrtha sa Ghaeltacht, ní mhairfidh saibhreas na Gaeilge sa tír uilig. Is ionann ionsaí ar scoileanna Gaeltachta agus ionsaí ar an nGaeltacht féin. Is ionann ionsaí ar scoileanna Gaeltachta agus ionsaí ar chultúr na tíre.
An rud is úafásaí ná nach gcaithfidh an Rialtas dul síos an bóthar seo. Tá sé ag iarraidh na scoileanna beaga ar fud na tíre a dhúnadh ag an am a bhfuil sé ag tabhairt na mbilliún euro dos na bannaí bainc.
Níl bunús oideachasúil ag baint leis an mbeart seo. B'fhéidir go bhfuil bunús eacnamaíoch gearthéarmach ag baint leis, ach ná déantar dearmad go mbeidh costas ann freisin. Caithfidh an Rialtas dhá scoil a chur le chéile, seomraí ranga breise a thógáil, áiseanna nua a chruthú agus córais taistil a chur ar fáil. Cruthóidh an polasaí seo coimhlint idir na pobail a bhéas ag cailliúint na scoileanna, an Stát, agus na pobail a bhéas ag coinneáil scoileanna agus a bhéas ag fáil achmhainní nua.
Tá slí eile chun airgead a shábháil. Ar smaoinigh an Rialtas ar pholasaí chomhshnaidhme a chur i bhfeidhm? B'fhéidir gur cheart go bhfanfadh dhá scoil san dá shuíomh ina bhfuil siad agus go gceapfaí príomhoide, bord bainistíochta, rúnaí agus foireann múinteoireachta amháin ar an dá scoil.
Ní mór an córas oideachais a thógáil thart timpeall na leanaí in ionad na leanaí a thógaint as a gceantair féin gach maidin. Ní mór dúinn an Ghaeltacht a treisiú in ionad í a lagú.
Debate adjourned.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 4 July 2012.