We must honour Donogh O'Malley's legacy by cutting school class sizes

Sir, – Stephen Collins is correct in his assessment that Donogh O'Malley's brave call to introduce free secondary education and a national system of school transport were 'momentous' while the 'impact on the country was transformational' ('Free education was a gamble that is still paying off,' Opinion, September 4th). A lesser-known measure introduced by O'Malley was the reduction of the appointment figure (threshold for the appointment of an additional teacher) for the fourth mainstream class teacher in primary schools by 10 pupils in a single budget. After Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton's underwhelming address to INTO's annual congress this year, I offered her a portrait of her predecessor, O'Malley, suggesting she should hang the limited edition print in her office to provide inspiration. Regrettably she didn't accept the gift. Instead, the picture adorns my own office – to remind me of the importance of campaigning against underfunding in our primary and special schools. We must counteract the false narrative about an education 'overspend', which is being spun by austere Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure and Reform officials, who appear to be influencing the decisions of Jack Chambers and, by extension, the wider Cabinet. In August, the Department of Education and Youth (DEY) highlighted the reality that there are 428,941 pupils in classes above the EU average of 19. Many are in supersized class of 30-35 plus. Indeed, the number of children in classes with 35 or more pupils increased year on year. The DEY itself labels these categories of classes as 'large' or 'very large'. This is an indictment of Fine Gael's past 15 neglectful years in various coalitions. Exacerbating that situation, the Government's last budget led to the removal of 498 more classroom teachers this summer. The impact of these losses, combined with Ireland's overcrowded classrooms, fail today's generation of pupils. Indeed, it unravels much of the good work done by O'Malley. This coming Thursday will mark 60 years since O'Malley made his brave moves as education minister. It is time for this Government – and in particular Chambers as a Fianna Fáil minister – to reflect on O'Malley's legacy and take inspiration from him. The Government must use Budget 2027 to honour its promise to voters to reduce Ireland's class sizes to the EU average of 19. It is long beyond time for another 'O'Malley moment'. – Yours, etc, JOHN BOYLE, General Secretary, Irish National Teachers' Organisation, Dublin.