Before I refer to some of the specific education and training aims of the new programme for Government, it is important to state that achieving these aims will require us to spend astutely and efficiently and to target our resources in a more effective manner in order that we can achieve the best educational outcomes. While the 2011 expenditure allocation for my Department, at €8.91 billion, is one of the largest across Government, much of this, in fact 77% of current expenditure, goes on pay and pensions. Some 30%, or 103,000, of those employed in the public sector at the end of last year were employed in the education sector. More than 71,000 of these are either teachers or special needs assistants.

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