Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

A substantial investment has been made in education in recent years. The priorities have been resource teachers, special needs teachers and areas of disadvantage. When all those teachers are included, the overall national average has fallen from 22.2:1 in 1996-7 to 17.44:1. If a school has a class of more than 30 pupils, it means it has many fewer——

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