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

The funding crisis is not in confined to our schools. It affects every part of the country and its impact is a direct legacy of Governments which were dominated by Deputy McConalogue's party. The gap between what the country is spending and earning is €12 billion. No one is immune from the Government's efforts to close this gap and, sadly, these include a reduction of resources in a number of areas. Does the Deputy believe I like doing this or that I am doing it for fun or as some form of torture? Of course, that is not the case. If the sound economic position in which we left he country in 1997 when my party lost the general election had been decently managed, we would not be where we are today. The Deputy must accept not only the crisis but also the reality, namely, that we must find savings. He knows precisely what constraints I face in that regard.

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