Only 10 per cent of primary schools are designated disadvantaged, compared with almost 25 per cent of second-level schools, according to Declan Kelleher of the INTO's central executive committee (CEC). This policy is indefensible, he told the 800 INTO delegates gathered in Waterford for the union's 132nd annual congress. Kelleher called on the Minister to rectify the situation immediately.

"It is also essential that the Minister address the issue of rural disadvantage," he said. "There are significant pockets of disadvantage to be found in every village and small town in this country." Tom O'Sullivan, also of the CEC, said the problem with most initiatives to counter educational disadvantage is that they are too narrowly focused. "There are easily identifiable urban areas with serious and endemic disadvantage. It is also a fact, however, that in primary schools throughout the system there are individual pupils from families which are severely disadvantaged, whose needs are not being met."