Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

The letter continues:

Having been consistent in my calls for much greater education funding, I must once again say that we have missed an investment opportunity. Additional borrowing or additional income tax could have provided the necessary leverage to take advantage of any change in economic circumstances.

However I am not so optimistic as to hope beyond hope that this Government or indeed any potential Government is suddenly going to wake up with a messiahanic zeal for turbo charged educational investment. At this stage all I can hope for is that the hardest hitting of the educational cuts can be reversed and funding found from other sources.

A response in this manner would show that this Government will listen and respond to the cries for help that are now coming from teachers working on the ground and the parents of the children they teach.

See this speech in context