Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together.

I do not propose to give any specific commitment on the overall number of teaching posts in the education sector or on any changes to the pupil-teacher ratio and the impact it could have. These are issues that I am considering with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the forthcoming budget discussions and meeting our obligations under the EU-IMF programme. This is all the more challenging in the context of significant increases in demographics.

The Government will endeavour to protect front-line education services as best as possible. However, this must be done within the context of bringing our overall public expenditure back into line with what we can afford as a country. The challenge will be to ensure the resources that are provided to schools are used by them to maximum effect in terms of providing an appropriate range of subjects to meet the needs of our knowledge economy and in delivering the best possible outcomes for all our pupils.

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