The Government has failed to deliver on its promise to reduce class sizes and is "ignoring" the educational needs of thousands of children, the Green Party said today.
Speaking as the annual conference of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) opened in Cork this evening, Green Party leader and former school principal Trevor Sargent said the Government must reassess how it is providing for children.
"While Minister Hanafin has been bringing the media to the opening of new school buildings, Green Party representatives have been visiting and dealing with the many schools and families who have been ignored by this Government, particularly in commuter towns around our cities. For instance, last month, Dan Boyle TD and I visited Ballygarvan National School here in Cork.
"The conditions for education in Ballygarvan, in common with many schools throughout the country, are entirely inappropriate and require immediate attention," Mr Sargent said.
The Green Party leader, who is attending the three-day teachers' conference, said the Government had failed to reduce class sizes to 20 for under nines. This had been a fully costed commitment included in the Fianna Fáil and PD Programme for Government in 2002.
Mr Sargent also said the Minister had failed children with special needs.
"A recent instance of the Minister's attitude to this was her welcome for the result of the Ó'Cuanacháin case, which denies children with autism the vital support that they need."
On funding, Mr Sargent said the INTO had shown that, for every €2 paid by the State to primary schools, parents pay €1 to keep schools going.
There were also still "worrying numbers" of children dropping out of school after primary level.
Mr Sargent said the Green Party's fully-costed 50 Steps education policy commits an additional €1bn in funding to education.