Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

Cognisance must be taken not alone of the EU-IMF programme but also the Croke Park agreement. The previous Administration tied the hands of this Government and the Minister for Education and Skills in many regards. Some 80% of the education budget is spent on the salaries, allowances and pensions of teachers, special needs assistants, administrators, principals, deputy principals and lecturers. Therefore, the Government has no discretion over 80% of its budget. In essence, we must ensure that our children and young people get the best education using 20% of the education budget.

The decision by the Minister for Education and Skills to provide savings through changes in the allocation of guidance teachers safeguards essential and core provisions such as the protection of subject choice, pupil-teacher ratios and special needs assistants. It should be noted and highlighted that despite what the Opposition might argue, the increased autonomy that will be given to principals to run their schools is in the best interest of their pupils. Moreover, 42% of schools will not be affected by these changes at all as they already do not have a full-time guidance counsellor. Only those schools with 500 or more students will be affected by these changes.

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