Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We need to be very honest here. One of the reasons we find ourselves in this position is that while the most recent national wage agreement included a 3.5% increase, only 2% of the funding was provided by the Government. The other 1.5% must be absorbed from the existing budget.

I ask the Minister of State to urgently rethink this decision and to engage with the ETB in Tipperary. I spoke to some of those students who have enrolled for September. These are vulnerable students who are devastated by this decision. I appeal to the Minister of State to intervene.

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