John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to contribute to the debate on the Sinn Féin motion. Deputies on all sides recognise the importance of education as a means of investment in helping the country to recover. It is only natural that our economic circumstances require many difficult choices to be made by the Minister in the coming weeks. I commend the Minister on having done precisely that in recent years when he chose to invest €12 million in the numeracy and literacy strategy and €40 million in high speed broadband for post-primary schools. I also welcome his commitment to invest €2 billion in schools building projects, including €52 million to replace prefabricated school buildings which will reduce rental costs by 25%. That hundreds or perhaps thousands of prefabricated school buildings were constructed during the Celtic tiger era is indicative of the bad choices that were made when resources were plentiful. The Government must now make the correct choices at a time of extremely limited resources.

One of the greatest challenges facing the Minister is to protect the pupil-teacher ratio in primary and post-primary schools. There is a view that the pupil-teacher ratio will be the subject of review in the forthcoming budget. I urge the Minister to continue to perform the miracle of the loaves and fishes by protecting the current pupil-teacher ratio. It is vital that Ireland continues to have a highly educated workforce because we often hear that it is this that acts as a magnet for inward investment. Protecting the pupil-teacher ratio must be one of the key features of the budget as it will underpin the advantages our educational system enjoys.

Deputy Pat Breen referred to the difficulties facing small schools. I come from a rural constituency where we face the same problem. The Minister has shown some flexibility by allowing smaller schools to continue operating. While some amalgamations will be necessary, I urge the Minister to continue his flexible policy.

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