‘Minister failed to take difficult decision’
Ever since the announcement in December by the Education and Skills minister that he was withdrawing 482 DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) programme posts, schools, parents and communities the length and breadth of this state have been coming to terms with the impact this cut will have.
Anyone who has spoken with the parents of children attending DEIS schools will see for themselves the anger this announcement has caused. I know this because I am one such parent and as a parent of two young children currently attending DEIS Band 1 schools, I am angry that the Minister for Education has brought forward proposals which will deny my children the best education possible.
During his contribution to the Sinn Féin private member’s motion, Mr Quinn referenced the role of the EU/IMF programme of support and the resulting consequences of it, one being the need to cut the educational budget to satisfy the terms of the bailout. The minister spoke of “difficult decisions” and “pressures on spending” as if this explained the rationale behind his decision to withdraw supports for some of the most vulnerable children in our society.
In my opinion the minister failed to take the difficult decision, because if he had then he and his Government would have told the EU and the IMF that they are not prepared to sacrifice the education of our young people at any price.
The very children who will suffer from the cuts in supports to DEIS schools are the future lifeblood of Ireland; they are the generation who we will all be relying on to drive the Irish economy forward so we never have to suffer the indignation of going cap-in-hand to our so-called partners in Europe again.
The aim of DEIS is to ensure that the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities are prioritised and effectively addressed.
It is for these reasons that communities refuse to stand idly by and let these disgraceful cuts happen. That is why the parents I meet at the school gates when I collect my own children have organised themselves to oppose these cuts. Hundreds of emails have been sent to the offices of local TDs in Cork, asking them to not support these cuts. Coupled with the political pressure Sinn Féin put on the Government through the private member’s motion, there are signs that the minister is waking up to the reality that he cannot proceed as he may have wished and he will have to reverse the cuts.
The announcement by Mr Quinn last Wednesday that he is undertaking a review into the impact his proposals will have on DEIS schools are a signal of this pressure paying dividends.
I see no other option open to the minister but a full reversal of the proposed cuts to DEIS. Anything less is an admission that he does not value the contribution young children from disadvantaged backgrounds have to offer and he is willing to sacrifice their life opportunities to satisfy his paymasters in the EU and the IMF.
* Jonathan O’Brien is Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central.
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