Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister was not clear whether that would definitely happen, even though he raised it in the recent reports. By doing that, many people are scared the pupil-teacher ratio will be increased. This sounds very much like the last time, with the decision to reverse the cuts to the DEIS schools and the cuts to the grants to schools. The Minister is accepting the constraints of his budgets. There is supposed to be €1 billion available, which he could source. Is he banging the table or whispering in the ears of Ministers to say we need extra resources to protect people who need this support? We cannot allow anymore cuts to people who need resource teachers or special needs assistants. Many schools have cut the number of special needs assistants. Last week, three people in Blanchardstown lost their jobs as special needs assistants. This is an area where the Minister, as a Labour Party Minister for Education and Skills, must put the boot in and say: "No more cuts. The money must come from somewhere else." Has he considered increasing the financial transaction tax by a percentage to ring-fence money for the education of the most vulnerable people in schools?

See this speech in context