Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I ask her to refrain from speaking about coming back from cuts given what her Government has imposed on public services. Teachers are not being given the necessary supports in terms of continuous professional development and whole school in-service training. If these supports are not provided, we will be creating the potential for future difficulties. The Minister spoke about the need to listen to stakeholders and warned against any one party having a veto, unless that party is the Government. This has brought about the conditions for the strike which is due to take place tomorrow. Our view is that assessment of student exams should be impartial, external, fair and standardised.

As I noted this morning, the Minister will end up in negotiations again. We want agreement rather than confrontation but Ministers need to be problem solvers. A solution will only be found if the Minister goes into a partnership with the teaching profession, as opposed to digging holes and refusing to engage meaningfully. Given that talks will probably resume this Friday or next Monday, why not begin them now? She needs to make a real effort to sort this out so that the teachers can go back to doing what they do best, that is, teaching our children.

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