Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 7 Nov 1996

Vol. 471 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Education of Traveller Children.

Mr. Martin

I thank you, Sir, for facilitating me in raising this issue and I thank the Minister for coming in to reply. I urge the Minister for Education to respond urgently to the plea from the Irish Traveller Movement to fill the 23 visiting teacher posts for children of the travelling community. These posts were advertised in June 1995 but fell victim to a Government embargo. Since the service started in 1980 in Galway visiting teachers have proved to be of enormous value to the education of traveller children. The Department of Education described the service as one of the few initiatives in the area of traveller education that has been a success. Visiting teachers liaise between travelling families, schools and agencies active in the welfare of travellers. It is disgraceful that the Minister reneged on her commitment to appoint these teachers.

It is extraordinary that in the cutbacks of June 1995 the Minister hit the travelling community first, a community that is perhaps the most educationally disadvantaged. Many pleas were made in terms of cutbacks and the Minister lifted the embargo in other areas of education, but the embargo still applies to the visiting teacher service for the travelling community. The Minister's policy illustrates an extraordinary degree of political hypocrisy. She claims that she cares about the disadvantaged, but that is not so. For example, despite numerous requests, she has failed to meet the Irish Traveller Movement in the past three years. Why will she not meet that organisation? The Minister is the least accessible Minister for Education since the foundation of the State. I am inundated with correspondence from groups, bodies and movements which find it impossible to meet the Minister. Today at the Select Committee on Social Affairs IFUT, the organisation representing university teachers, stated that despite many requests the Minister for Education has refused to meet it.

The Labour Party talks ad nauseam about the need to be all-inclusive, to do everything possible to improve the quality of life and the education service for the travelling community, yet the Minister refuses to meet the Irish Traveller Movement. That organisation was forced to organise a protest outside the gates of Leinster House last Tuesday, to which it invited a number of politicians. The education spokespeople from the Opposition parties had no difficulty in meeting and sympathising with the group, but the Minister was not present.

It is a disgrace that a traveller education unit has not been established in the Department of Education, as recommended in the task force report on traveller education. The Government has failed to implement most if not all of the recommendations in that report, which is gathering dust on the shelves. Once again Labour Party rhetoric has failed to match reality.

This is the third occasion in two weeks I have raised education matters on the Adjournment.

It is a disgrace that the Minister pays so little regard to the House by not taking Adjournment matters of national and local importance. I pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Allen, who has always made himself available on these issues but it is indicative of the Minister's respect for the House that she has ignored the Adjournment debates and treated them with contempt.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Allen)

The 23 posts to which the Deputy refers were comprised of three posts relating to vacancies which existed in the visiting teacher service for travellers at that time. The remaining 20 posts related to a newly proposed allocation of extra teachers to the service.

The three posts relating to existing vacancies were in fact filled in the normal course. The 20 additional appointments which had been proposed were unable to proceed because of the intervention of the Government's embargo on public sector recruitment at that time.

The capacity of the Minister for Education to allocate additional teacher posts to special needs areas, including the visiting teacher service for travellers, is dependent on the availability of such posts in any given year.

The Minister for Education must consider how best to deploy available resources across a wider range of special needs and must determine priorities in the light of available resources.

In the current year, the Minister adopted a particular focus on children who suffer from educational disadvantage and sought to target resources into this area in an effort to break the cycle of disadvantage. As part of this approach, the Minister recently launched a major new initiative aimed at bringing special targeted assistance to children in selected urban and rural areas who suffer serious educational disadvantage. Traveller children attending the selected schools will of course benefit from the inclusion of their schools in this initiative.

I am aware that a number of concerns have been raised regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the task force on the travelling community. However, I assure the House of the continuing commitment of the Minister for Education to meeting the education needs of travellers.

The report of the task force contained over 160 separate recommendations in relation to the education and training of travellers. One such recommendation related to the provision of additional teachers to the visiting teacher service for travellers.

As indicated to the House on 10 October 1996, the Minister for Education has decided to allocate a further three teacher posts to the visiting teacher service for travellers in the current school year. These extra posts, which will be advertised shortly, will bring the number of teachers in the service to 15.

Also, as indicated to the House on 10 October, 1996, an interdepartmental working group reported to Government on the feasibility of implementing the task force recommendations. One of the conclusions of the interdepartmental group was that the co-ordinated delivery of education services for travellers could best be achieved by creating a special committee in my Department which would be representative of the various areas of the Department involved in the delivery of education services to travellers.

I am pleased to inform the House that arrangements for this committee are now being completed and the committee will hold its first meeting on 21 November.

An important element of the committee's remit will be to consult relevant interest groups, including traveller organisations. I expect the Irish Traveller Movement will have adequate opportunity to convey its views as part of this process.

The commitment of the Minister for Education to the future development of education services for travelling people is set out clearly in the White Paper on Education —Charting our Education Future. The aim, as set out in the White Paper, is to promote the full and inclusive participation of travellers at all levels of the education system. It is the intention of the Minister for Education to continue to work towards this goal.