Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the question that Deputy Sean Fleming quite rightly asked about teachers, one point on which I wish to agree with him is that even with the reductions in public servant numbers the Government and its predecessor were obliged to introduce, there still will be more teachers in the system. The reason is the number of children coming into the schools has not been at the current rate since the 1880s. As a result of more children coming into the primary schools, more teachers are being seen and the Government is proud that despite these adjustments, it has managed to enable more teachers to come into the schools. The Government has not cut class sizes and has managed to do this in a tight fiscal position. This is an achievement of which the Government is very proud.

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