Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Getting to the substance of the question, we now spend €10 billion a year on education. That is more than ever before. It is €1 billion more than was being spent when this Government came to office. How have we spent that money? One cannot do everything one wants to in one year so one has to prioritise. We spent the money on new school buildings all over the country, 6,000 extra teachers, 3,000 extra special needs assistants, 110 more DEIS schools and 300 more special units for children in mainstream schools. We have reduced the pupil-teacher ratio on two occasions and, of course, we have to fund pay restoration for teachers.

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