Disadvantage: Ireland is the third richest country in the EU, but third from bottom when it comes to child poverty, John Carr, INTO general secretary designate, complained to a meeting of educators on Friday.

"If we are truly serious about tackling the serious problems associated with disadvantage, governments must commit to a far higher and fairer level of resourcing," Carr said. "Rather than the child having to cope with the demands of the school all the time, the school system must be enabled, through appropriate funding, to cope with the needs of the disadvantaged child."

He said that at least 15 per cent of the education budgets, North and South, should be targeted at educational disadvantage.

Carr was speaking in Armagh at a seminar on educational disadvantage, North and South. It looked at the educational opportunities for harmonisation and co-operation between the education systems in Northern Ireland and the Republic. It was addressed by senior representatives from both departments of education as well as by Carr.

INTO president Joan Ward said it was "critical that the voice and professional expertise of the teaching profession are taken account of within the new North/South Ministerial Council structures in education".

Carr said: "The Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish government should undertake a joint educational initiative to combat the effects of social and economic disadvantage on pupils."

Frank Bunting, INTO Northern secretary, said there was "enormous interest within the INTO to explore the educational outworking of the Belfast Agreement".