Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

We have done well in the education sector. I cannot understand teachers going to meetings now who were around and did well from the Celtic tiger. The debate surrounding the education cuts in the budget is an exaggeration. The Fine Gael spokesperson was not overly enthusiastic about the wages or salaries of teachers. The party's finance spokesperson talked about adjusting to a €4 billion cutback but we only brought about a €2 billion cutback. The party has left unanswered how it would find this €4 billion in cuts. Would it close down the whole public and Civil Service?

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