Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I have taken time to elaborate on how the staffing schedule operates because I am concerned that anyone picking individual cases in isolation and out of context could cause unnecessary concern. Budget 2008 provided my Department with €4.6 billion or an additional €380 million for teacher pay and pensions. This was a substantial additional investment, given the economic environment on which the budget was based. The allocation provides for pay increases to all teachers but, critically, it will also fund more than 2,000 additional primary teachers, more than the number in schools when the Government took office less than a year ago.

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