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

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"—recognises, given the difficult economic circumstances, the necessity to stabilise the public finances and that taking difficult expenditure decisions and choices at this time is essential in order to ensure that public services, including education, can be sustained and improved in the long run;

notes that the expenditure control measures in the education sector must be considered in the context of the Government's significant investment in education which has increased spending by over 300% since 1997, which has provided for significant improvements in resources and infrastructure across the sector including:

15,000 extra teachers working in our primary and post-primary schools;

the targeting of additional supports and resources for children with special education needs with over 19,000 teachers and special needs assistants now working with these children in our schools;

the targeting of additional supports and funding to schools in the most disadvantaged areas under the Department's DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) Action Plan;

the significant capital expenditure of over €586 million this year alone for the school building programme compared to just €92 million in 1997;

notes the longstanding role of partnership in education and the Government commitment to continuing to work constructively with the partners to build on past achievements and improve educational outcomes for all our students;

acknowledges that the education budget for 2009 shows a 3.2% increase on 2008, despite serious pressures on public finances and major challenges to our economic and social well being; and

recognises that these expenditure control measures, while necessary in the current circumstances, will be considered further by Government, in the context of prevailing economic circumstances, at the earliest possible opportunity."

I wish to share my time with Deputy Seán Fleming.

I welcome this opportunity to contribute to the debate this evening on the level of provision made for education in the Estimates and the implications of that provision for maintaining the level of services in the education system.

Before I comment on some of the outlandish claims made this evening, and the scaremongering that has gone on in the past two weeks about the claimed impact on schools and children, I want to first go back to one basic premise as the starting point for any reasonable or rational discussion on this issue. We must accept that the dramatic changes in world economic circumstances, changes that are challenging Governments the world over, require decisive action. Or are we to pretend, as some seem intent on doing, that somehow here in Ireland we can carry on regardless?

The budget was about striking a balance between setting an appropriate level of public expenditure, making measured changes to taxation and setting an appropriate level of borrowing. It is simplistic and dangerous to pretend that expenditure on public services could be allowed to grow as though domestic and international economic conditions were as healthy as they were in recent years. Those on the benches opposite are being outrageous with the people when they offer——

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