Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I object to the fact that I get only three minutes when I am supposed to share the time.

Why did the Minister not discuss this privately with the unions? Why did he deliberately court public confrontation with the unions on the issue of attending the teacher conferences? Would it have been in the spirit of partnership if he had tried to engage with the unions on this issue and perhaps come to an agreement with which both parties would have been happy before this became a public matter?

In light of Deputy Finian McGrath's question and the extent to which teachers give voluntarily of their time above and beyond the call of duty, does the Minister fear his ongoing confrontation with them will cause the sorts of problems experienced with Welsh teachers to which he has just referred? The Minister did not want to make benchmarking payments to teachers who were not in school for a few days before Christmas despite that school management made the decisions involved rather than individuals.

See this speech in context