Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

Schools are now facing spiralling costs for fuel, water and waste collection and the Minister has said he will do something about that in the near future, which I welcome. However, now is the time that schools are finding it very difficult to survive. An average debt of €23,000 applies in many schools. The real scandal is that ten years after this Government assumed office, it takes on average 26 months for a child to get speech and language services in west Dublin where I live. I suspect it is no different in other parts of the country. Is this not a disgraceful statement of where this country is in terms of our commitment to its most vulnerable children? We cannot even provide the most basic occupational services to those children today.

The Minister has had a bad week. His spin machine went out of control and his 3% cuts will make a big difference in the post-primary and higher education sectors. I know that next year will be more difficult. The Minister has a job to do to defend his Department and ensure he gets the maximum return from his discussions with the Department of Finance. The Minister has shown he is not up to the task in terms of the outrageous cutback he announced yesterday.

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