Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Government decisions on reductions in resources in any area are not taken lightly nor are they done in isolation from the likely impact. The key challenge is to do this while also improving outcomes. We all have to achieve more with less.

Within the schools sector we know from international research that while class size is a factor the quality of teaching is a far more significant factor in determining successful outcomes. We therefore have to focus on the drivers of good performance. We need to have the right people becoming teachers, we need the right training for them in college and we need to support them with the right professional development throughout their educational career. To this end we are making significant changes to both the structure and format of initial teacher education so that our colleges and teachers are comparable with the best in the world.

At school level we need to foster and develop a culture of self-evaluation. In addition to supporting school self-evaluation, our school inspection system will continue to provide robust external evaluation of schools and promote improvement in quality and standards in teaching and learning. This, along with targeted initiatives such as those for improving literacy and numeracy, will all help to restore and improve our education system and how it compares with our international competitors.

See this speech in context