Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I want to know how many of the 128 classes in 119 primary schools the Minister has visited? Has the Minister met the children? Did the Minister meet the parents, principals and teachers before being told by some official to abolish those posts? If the decision was not made for financial reasons, then the Minister must clarify whether the €7 million saving will be invested in additional learning support in the mainstream classes into which the 534 children are being moved. At the very least people in the Gallery and outside the House deserve answers to these questions.

The people who will be affected by this decision also want answers from those Deputies who seem to have no difficulty with supporting this attack on these children. On 9 March, we had to listen to the reflections of the Minister of State, Deputy Trevor Sargent, who proclaimed to the world that to make cuts to special education provisions turned his stomach. The Minister of State said that he was not only a member of Government, but also a former school principal. The people affected by this decision have no interest in how the Minister of State's stomach is turning; they want to turn his vote on this issue and they want to know the position of the Green Party. They want to know whether the Green Party Members will put up with anything that Fianna Fáil dishes up. If the bottom line for the Green Party is not special needs education, what is its bottom line?

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