Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

We have to come through the recession we are currently enduring. The Department of Education and Science needs a Minister who will stand up for education. It does not need someone who acts as a puppet of the Taoiseach because they are close friends. It needs someone who will ensure that the country can come through this crisis. The only way that will happen is if we continue to invest in education.

Over the course of the last two weeks, my party has said difficult things to the public sector. Fine Gael has argued for a pay freeze in respect of salaries over €50,000 across the entire public sector. It is a difficult thing to sell and argue for. We believe that the front line — the teachers of this country — needs to be ring-fenced. I will not stand over a budget which will, in effect, sack 2,000 teachers in our primary and post-primary schools next year. We have taken the hard choices. It is time the Government did the same.

See this speech in context