Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I wish to share time with Deputies Ciarán Lynch, Martin Ferris and Ruairí Quinn.

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the nerve on the Government side of the House, that Deputies can stand up here and go back on a very clear promise that was made in the programme for Government. That promise does not refer to what the Government "might" do, but to what it "will" do and reads: "The staffing schedule will be reduced from a general rule of at least one teacher for every 27 pupils in 2007/08, by one point a year, to one for every 24 children by 2010/11." That is a definite commitment to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio this year by one point but the Government Deputies stand up and tell us they are not doing it.

I was in this House on many occasions when the former Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Mary Hanafin, defended the fact that the Government did not fulfil the previous commitment in the programme for Government either. That commitment was that all children under the age of nine would be in classes of 20:1 or less. She said she could not do it then, in times of plenty. Now we are being told that it cannot be done because the money is not available. These are two broken promises by the Government to the children of this country.

I note the Public Gallery is full and I presume most of those listening to this debate are involved in schools in some capacity, whether as teachers or parents. I am sure they must be as flabbergasted as I am at the nerve of the Government. I do not blame the current Minister but the Government as a whole. It is unbelievable that they would come in here and say what they have said. I include the Green Party Deputies in my criticisms.

See this speech in context