John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I was not one of the senior Ministers who took part in those negotiations. All I can say is that all successful negotiations take considerable time to conclude. It will take senior departmental officials some time to analyse the situation in schools throughout the State in order to meet the requirements regarding pupil-teacher ratios. However, Deputy Hayes can rest assured that the figure remains at 500.

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