Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We need to get the balance right between expenditure on areas like education and health, in particular, and whatever other measures will be taken in the budget. I will certainly be seeking extra funding. Addressing the pupil-teacher ratio as soon as we can, economically speaking, is something that should be done. Until now, I have only had enough money to be able to address some of the issues around smaller schools, as announced earlier in the year. As I have mentioned, this is a personal priority. We will have to measure demographic growth, which will take some of the extra money we will get for providing extra teachers and special needs assistants, etc. There will also be other budgetary demands, although this will be one of my priorities.

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