Bhí mé ag éisteacht le Clare FM agus chuala mé gur inniu lá breithe an Cheann Comhairle. Ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a ghabháil leat, a Cheann Comhairle, os rud é go bhfuil tú sa Chathaoir mhór chumhachtach chompordach sin.

I wish to ask the Taoiseach a question about an issue I consider is really important in the context of our future. In interviews the Taoiseach has given in recent weeks he has quite rightly spoken of that future and of the requirement to invest in it with particular relevance to information technology, research and development. When he has been questioned he has replied consistently in the context of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 which, in his own words, is to transform Ireland and provide a better quality of life for all our people, young and old.

In that context I ask the Taoiseach about the commitment in that national development plan, on page 199, which deals with an investment of €252 million in information and computer technology for schools. This is a mess. There is less than one computer for every ten pupils and less than one in five is actually working. There is inconsistency in terms of the replacement of hardware. Broadband is not available in a number of schools. The situation, as far as the future is concerned which the Taoiseach has pointed out as being important, is all over the place. Will the commitment in the national development plan to invest €252 million over the next seven years be delivered in full and spent in full?

That will depend on the budgetary parameters as we go through the next seven years. With respect, the assumptions which are set out in the plan are predicated on growth of more than 4.5% per annum. I have been making the point, generally speaking, that it is important that we prioritise investment to those areas which will improve competitiveness and ensure we continue to see investment coming to the country to create jobs and maintain and grow wealth for the country in order that we can develop public services.

Specifically, in regard to the whole question of the role information communications technology can play in the furtherance and development of our education system, at primary, second and other levels, it is important that we provide a priority for that area. As the Leader of the Opposition will be aware, that is done in the context of the Estimates process. I have heard from the Opposition, quite rightly, taking into account the change in the international environment in which we operate, the need to maintain our commitments under the Stability and Growth Pact by providing broadly balanced budgets going forward; this is an issue that has to be considered in that context.

This is the first admission from the Taoiseach that the national development plan is not secure and that the commitments entered into in it will no longer stand up. Last week, the Fine Gael spokesman on education, Deputy Brian Hayes, asked the newly appointed Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, if this money would be spent over the period of the plan. He said this was now an aspiration; following on the words of his predecessor, Deputy Hanafin, who said, in respect of class sizes and pupil teacher ratios that this was also an aspiration.

I remind the Taoiseach of what he said, as Minister for Finance, last December in his budget speech:

The national development plan is my top priority. Postponing or delaying it would be a major policy error. ... I am determined to roll it out as planned and thereby secure our future.

We are now being told by the Taoiseach that this is all predicated on prevailing financial circumstances. This will come as a complete shock and an absolute disappointment to the hundreds of thousands of pupils, teachers and parents throughout the country who will find that their schools are inadequately resourced in terms of ICT to compete with what is happening abroad and the challenges we face in the future. If it means this is no longer a commitment, where stands the national development plan? Where stands the commitment to metro north, the children's hospital etc.?

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has said there is not a red cent in the coffers to build a hospital in the north east. If the Taoiseach is saying that the national development plan does not stand up in terms of commitments, will he prioritise what he has said that for young people the future lies in what is between their ears and what we can give them in terms of that information resource and technology? The commitment to invest €252 million over seven years is an investment in the future. As Taoiseach, whose foreword — Transforming Ireland, A Better Quality of Life — is in this plan, will he give a commitment that at least this element of the national development plan will be honoured in full as he said last December when he delivered his Budget Statement as Minister for Finace? The future jobs, the future economic expansion of this country, the future careers of thousands of young people currently in primary school and starting secondary school depend on his answer.

The commitment of the Government to education has been unprecedented and will continue. As I have said, the commitment I hear from the Opposition depends on the day of the week and what spokesman I listen to. On the one hand, it speaks about the deterioration of the public finances and then says we are not spending a sufficient amount, as the Leader of the Opposition said today.

What has the Taoiseach to say?

The finance spokesperson will come in tomorrow and say that I am increasing spending at three times the rate of what it should be.

The Taoiseach without interruption.

I am just pointing out the factual position from the Leader of the Opposition's point of view. In regard to what I am going to do and what this Government will do, we will prioritise investments in those areas which will be most productive for the economy and for society. Education has been an area where, since this Government took office in 1997, we have consistently expanded and increased investment on an ongoing basis and will continue to do so. We will have to do so as members of the euro area in compliance with Stability and Growth Pact commitments which affect all governments. That requires us to keep a broad budgetary balance which is an issue on which the Opposition spokesman on finance has been speaking.

In regard to the specific issue raised by the Deputy, an expert group was set up by our previous Minister for Education and Science, which reported at the beginning of the year on the expenditure on the hardware, software, technical support and teacher training. Implementation of the plan is being considered.

The report has not been published.

I am making the broader point, one which will affect whoever is in government in the years ahead, that we have to take cognisance of the international economic environment from which we cannot be immune. We have certain commitments with which we have to contend and in the meantime we will prioritise investments in the productive sectors of the economy, including education, physical infrastructure, social expenditure and other areas, on the basis that, year on year as our Estimates are being prepared, we come forward with proposals which give priority to those areas. That is what we will do.

Will the Government publish the expert group's report?

The only Members with standing during Leaders' Questions are party leaders.

And the Ceann Comhairle.

That goes without saying.