Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am quite concerned by the Minister's response indicating that the only place to find the money was in the pupil-teacher ratio. It seems to be the only area identified so far, and the Minister has not yet given us an assurance that he will not go down that path. I remind the Minister of what he said when he stood where I am as Opposition spokesperson for education seeking the job he has today. In October 2008 he indicated that by increasing class sizes, teachers become overly stretched and pupils are paid less attention in class, with the quality of teaching suffering. He argued that this was not good enough in a modern country and that we should be trying to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio rather than increasing it. That was the Minister's position and people at every primary school in the country would be very concerned about his response today, which is that the only area he has identified to find potentially €22 million next year is in the pupil-teacher ratio.

I will indicate to the Minister that my party has ring-fenced education spending in our pre-budget submissions. We put it to him that he needs to do the same and protect education. I ask that he does that. Perhaps he might respond to me.

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