Remarks by An Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, Minister for Education and Skills, at the annual congress of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) in Salthill Hotel, Galway, 5-7 April 2010:

Introduction
A Uachtaráin, a Aire, a thoscairí, a chomhpháirtithe san oideachas, a aíonna speisialta, táim fíor-shásta a bheith anseo libh ag an gComhdháil seo inniu.

I am very grateful for the invitation to join you at Congress this morning. This is not just my first teacher conference as Education Minister, but it is also my first significant opportunity to directly address partners in the sector following my appointment just two weeks ago today.

At the outset, therefore, I want to put on record my appreciation for the many expressions of best wishes received from across the country, including from many of your own members and their pupils.

I consider it a huge honour to have been appointed as Minister for Education and Skills. I'm looking forward to the challenge that this portfolio presents and to playing my part in the development of education, training and skills policy over the coming months and years.

I want to assure you also that I don't come as a complete stranger to the education sector or, in particular, to primary education. Not only is there a long primary pedigree in my own family, including my father and my grandfather who were both national teachers, but in opposition, as spokesperson on educational reform, I had considerable engagement on the issues then impacting on the sector.

I do, of course, also have two young kids myself, both in fifth class; and as a Teachta Dála for 23 years now, the standard and provision of primary education in my own constituency has always been a personal priority.

Challenging Environment
This platform today then, just two weeks into the job, gives me a welcome opportunity, not just to touch on some of the major issues facing the country, but to talk about some of the challenges that we will have to face together in education over the next few years.

I don't have to outline to you the economic, fiscal and budgetary challenges currently facing this State. Teachers know the impact of the economic challenge that Ireland is facing better than most. Across the country, in each classroom, you are able to gain a sense of how many dads and mums have lost their jobs as a result of the downturn.

I know that you can appreciate that the period since your last conference has been one of the most challenging for any Irish Government in the history of our country. In that time we have faced an uncompromising agenda on which we simply had to deliver.

I can assure you, delegates, that there were no easy options and no easy decisions. Rather, we had to navigate a clear path in the best long term interests of Ireland and the future of the very young people currently going through our education system.

Public Finances
Believe me when I say that having to commit so much capital to our banking system at a time when we have to cut spending across government is something that angers me greatly, just as it does you. But believe me also when I say that there is no other more cost effective or rational option available to us to secure the viability of our financial and banking systems.

The bottom line is that we need to get credit flowing in our economy again. We need a stable banking system to restart economic growth. And we need to return to a sustainable path of economic growth so that, in the long term, we can sustain our public finances and the level of investment we want to commit to frontline areas such as education.

We also have to put in place a rigorous regulatory regime, headed by the right people, to ensure, in so far as we can, that there is never a repeat of the unacceptable practices of the past.

I don't for a moment want to diminish the fact that some of the public spending decisions we have taken over the past year have caused real anxiety and hardship for people. I do however ask you to appreciate that in taking those decisions we were guided at all times by the national interest and the need to ensure we can sustain public services into the future.

The most frustrating fact for all of us at this point is that, despite the difficult choices of the past year, which were taken to place ourselves on the correct path, we are still not yet 'out of the woods'. We have more to do to fully stabilise our public finances.

As you know, a further €3 billion of adjustments will be required in the next budget. €1 billion of this is likely to come from capital expenditure and the remaining €2 billion will have to be achieved through reductions in the cost of public services and through taxation.

The reality is that this country will have less to spend on public services for the foreseeable future. This is a fact and we cannot afford to underestimate the challenge it will pose.

Renewed Programme for Government
For example, in education, we will have to provide resources, both human and capital, to meet the needs of an additional 7,000 pupils in our primary and second level schools next September.

While our commitment in the Renewed Programme for Government to no further increase in the pupil teacher ratio is a strong statement of our priorities, in a time of growing demographics, it means funding will not be as available for other areas we would wish to develop.

The Renewed Programme does give a priority to education however. I would like to thank the INTO for its input to the consultation process on the allocation of the additional 500 teaching posts - the first tranche of which have already been allocated to schools. Because the posts are additional to those required to cater for demographic growth, that Programme for Government commitment means we are able to make some improvement to the staffing schedule for the 2010/11 school year.

These improvements, which have also been published, are targeted at medium-to-larger schools which are typically under the greatest pressure in relation to class sizes. We have also maintained a significant primary school building programme this year, with some €378million being invested in our primary schools infrastructure.

The 37 major primary building projects announced in February are now being advanced together with over 50 major primary building projects that are either under construction or about to go on site in the coming months.

I can confirm that €100 million will be provided for the Summer Works Scheme this summer and that I am preparing to announce the successful applicants next week. This will fund improvement projects in schools up and down the country.

The investment will not only provide primary schoolchildren and teachers with the best environment in which to learn and work, but it will also create jobs in the local economy for our skilled trades people and others in the construction sector.

In addition to this, seven new primary schools are in the process of being established. This followed a detailed analysis of projected demographic growth over the coming years and consultation with patron bodies.

This additional investment at a time when resources are particularly restrained is significant, and is the clearest statement of our commitment to education. I am not saying that it is possible to shelter education completely from any further adjustments. For me to do so would be dishonest, given that the bulk of public expenditure is accounted for by health, education and welfare.

But our prioritisation of education in the Programme for Government recognises its importance in harnessing a child's ability and equipping future generations with the skills and knowledge necessary to shape the Irish economy and society of tomorrow.

Education and Competitiveness
During my time as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I travelled abroad to meet with many of the leading companies and employers in the United States and further afield. I was there to ask them to consider investing in Ireland.

Ireland has many advantages that make it the pre-eminent destination for foreign direct investment in Europe. Strong selling points, such as our attractive and pragmatic tax regime and our entrepreneurial business environment, are critical to our ability to attract job creating investment.

Time and time again however, my conversations with senior executives came back to the ability, skill levels and flexibility of our workforce. Ireland has a proud track record of providing all our young people with the opportunity to gain a high quality education and skill level with which to make their way in the world. That fact is known and acknowledged far from these shores and it is a key pull-factor for foreign direct investment into Ireland.

This is a significant achievement for a small nation such as ours and the lesson is a simple one - the higher the quality and standard of our education system, the greater the competitive advantage, resulting in more and better jobs for our workforce.

President, for the majority of individual children, their opportunity to gain that high quality education and skill level starts on the milestone early-September day when parents place a young Sarah, Jack, Emma or Sean into your members' care for the very first time.

Teachers have such a pivotal role to play in shaping the future path that their students will take. Ireland's teachers and your members can be singularly proud of the role they have played in that regard over the generations.

The challenge now for me, and your members, on behalf of the current generation, is to make the very most of what we have available in order to maintain and enhance the quality of our education services. That means we have to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed and that the resources we have are used to best effect.

I totally acknowledge that targeting resources, while fine in theory, can cause difficulties in the way they impact on implementation. It is understandable that those working in a school will not look at the national picture but at how the individual school is affected. There is a need to ensure fairness and equity among all schools and pupils.

Special Needs
Nowhere is this more critical than in the provision of supports and resources for the most vulnerable of the children in our system. In particular, I know there has been much said about the review of how special needs assistants are allocated to pupils. Provision for children with special educational needs is an area very close to my own heart and about which, in Government, we are proud of the great progress made in this area over the past decade.

Teachers have played an outstanding role in this regard - embracing children with special needs in your classrooms and giving them and their parents a new sense of belonging in the community.

You needed support to achieve this, however, and that is why we are now funding in excess of 10,000 special needs assistants nationally to help children with their care needs in school. One of my very first meetings following appointment was with the National Council for Special Education. I wanted to fully understand the context and process of the review and discuss the concerns being raised.

I am confident, following my engagement with the Council, that the review is only ensuring that resources are allocated fairly and in accordance with the present criteria. I want to assure you that there is emphatically no change in those criteria. There is no cap on the provision of special needs assistants. The provision of posts is demand led.

If a child with special needs requires care assistance in the classroom, he or she will get the support of an SNA. However, where the circumstances have changed, and a child has left the school or has diminished care needs, resources must be reallocated.

I know that once a resource is allocated to a school there is a natural tendency to want to hold what you have - but that cannot be the case here. I ask therefore for your support in ensuring that these valuable resources are truly targeted where they are most needed. In turn, I have asked the NCSE to continue with their flexible approach where a school encounters particular transitional difficulties, for example in the case of students with diminishing care needs, where a number of SNAs are to leave at the same time.

I am also aware that the special school sector is concerned about its future role. While I am awaiting advice from the NCSE in relation to the special schools, I am in no doubt that they will continue to be an important element in our provision for children with special educational needs.

It is not a question of whether special schools have a role, but how they can best contribute to the education provision for children with special educational needs into the future.

The Teacher as Professional
While it is very important that I set the overall context within which the country must operate at the moment, I also want to strongly emphasise that I see my new role as Minister for Education and Skills as one of also acknowledging and reinforcing the real strengths and values of our education system, and the solid work done by teachers in schools throughout the country.

This is important not just for all you and your members, but also for our pupils and young children. It is also significant that there is a positive international perception of our Irish Education system as a key pillar in our economic recovery.

We are genuinely fortunate in Ireland to have dedicated teachers, effective school leadership and a culture in our school communities that really values education. I have seen this commitment in a great many schools over my years as a public representative. And I know that even in these most difficult times that spirit of going the extra mile for each child is still very much alive and part of the way you work.

At the same time, the underlying strength of a system must also be rooted in continually seeking improvement wherever possible. Indeed, it is a hallmark of a strong system that it is not only receptive to, but actually seeks out opportunities for improvement. Both external evaluation and honest self-evaluation within schools and their communities are important in helping us to strive for and achieve better outcomes for the children that we all serve.

We can never be complacent about the need to strive for top quality in education. The roles of the teacher and the school are simply so important to the life chances of each individual child, and collectively to the good of the country, that we must all use every opportunity to maintain and enhance the quality of teaching and learning.

I see my role as Minister as working with you to achieve this. Work done over the last number of years in areas such as curriculum development, professional development, and evaluation has given us a strong platform from which to build.

The Teaching Council is progressively establishing itself as a strong force for the profession and an advocate for and guarantor of quality. I think that it was wise and forward looking to give the profession such a central role in its own development.

You will be aware that the Council is now actively engaged in an accreditation process with the teacher education colleges. I see this role as bringing real linkages between the formation of teachers and their needs as professionals in the workplace.

Continuous professional development by all teachers is also an important element in ensuring quality outcomes for the pupils in our schools. No matter how we strengthen and improve pre-service training of teachers, it will not be sufficient to sustain teachers and enable them meet the challenges of the classroom.

While many individual teachers do take responsibility for their own professional development, this must become the norm among the teaching profession as it is among other professions. The Teaching Council clearly has a role to play in that respect in setting out the responsibilities that must come with membership of the profession.

I acknowledge the very positive role that the INTO has played through its programmes that provide opportunities for teachers to engage in professional development.

Continued professional development is a key tool in many professions to ensure consistency and best practice. It is the means by which members of a profession maintain, improve and broaden their own collective knowledge and skills, and develop the personal qualities required for their professional lives. I believe it should be the same for the teaching profession.

Protecting our Children
I also want to acknowledge the very valuable role of the Teaching Council in putting in place and administering the vetting process for teachers. I know that you would share my concern to ensure that we do everything possible to ensure the safety of children in the education system.

We need to ensure that processes and programmes aimed at ensuring children's safety are fully in place and implemented in all our schools. Sadly, we know only too well that there is no room for complacency.

I would like to acknowledge the input of the INTO as an education partner, to the working party my predecessor Minister O'Keeffe established to review the child protection guidelines for schools and I want to say that I am equally committed to ensuring that the Stay Safe Programme is in place in all schools as part of revised procedures.

Patronage
Delegates, we all know that Irish society has changed dramatically over recent years and that it will continue to change at pace over the years to come. Our education system must therefore continue to adapt and change to reflect this.

The recent innovation in primary school patronage with the establishment of the Community National Schools is a welcome development. It gives us a template to build on into the future. I want to welcome what I understand has been the INTO's constructive role in these developments.

The whole issue of patronage and governance of our schools, at all levels, is a debate of significant national importance. It is one in which we must seek the input and views of a wide cross section of contemporary Ireland. Making the right decisions in this area has the potential to impact positively, not just on the educational environment, but on Irish society and our social and civic structure generally for decades to come.

It is extremely important therefore that we have a wide debate on the topic and move with 'open eyes' in a considered way to deliver the change appropriate to modern Ireland. As we progress this debate over the coming year, I know that the INTO will continue to have an important constructive input to make and I look forward to considering those views.

Leadership and Industrial Relations
Of course, I know that for any national organisation to be in a position to make a constructive contribution to issues of significant national policy it needs strong leadership and hard work at executive level. In that regard, I couldn't let this occasion pass without paying the warmest of tributes to your outgoing General Secretary, and my fellow county man, John Carr. John has been a major force not only within teaching but within the wider trade union movement. It is no exaggeration to say that his wisdom and principled common sense will be a great loss.

I know that the recent months have been a difficult period in industrial relations. The necessary decisions taken by the Government in the last Budget, together with earlier measures, have impacted on the living standards of your members and other public servants. I wish that it were otherwise.

As I indicated earlier, no Government would want to take the measures we have had to take if they could be avoided. In this context however, I welcome the agreement framed following negotiations with the public service unions that concluded last week in Croke Park. I want to acknowledge the contribution of Mr. Kieran Mulvey and his colleagues at the Labour Relations Commission in advancing these discussions.

The Government believes that the agreement represents a reasonable basis to move forward and I accept that you must now conduct and conclude your own internal processes on the agreement.

Irish people have always retained a strong sense of optimism and the ability to recover from the most difficult of situations. Our sense of community and our ability to pull together as a people, which you see every day in your work in schools, is also a real strength. These qualities are needed now more than ever. We have great strengths on which we can build.

While we face a very difficult situation with our unemployment rate, we continue to attract high quality new jobs to Ireland and have improved our international competitiveness. Social cohesion must be maintained and we have to actively guard as a country against the creation of dangerous divisions. We must all see ourselves as Irish citizens first and last.

The phoney division between public sector Ireland and private sector Ireland so regurgitated by the commentariat must be dispelled. The reality is that each is reliant on the other and that this is a difficult time for everyone living in this country. These unhelpful divisions can damage our shared sense of purpose and solidarity. I am sure that is a perspective shared by your Congress.

Conclusion
President, before I finish, I would like to say that I look forward to working constructively with the INTO and, indeed, with all the partners in education in meeting the needs of our children. I genuinely do see education as an area where partnership is not just desirable but is essential. That is not to say that we will always be in agreement. In fact, I suspect that we will frequently find ourselves on different sides of various debates. That's not necessarily a weakness or a negative, however, once we retain the capacity for constructive dialogue and mutual respect.

I know that your incoming General Secretary, Sheila Nunan, is equally committed to this type of constructive and positive approach and I look forward to working with Sheila and her colleagues in the year ahead.

Go raibh maith agaibh.
Mary Coughlan