Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the work that was done by the previous Government in reducing the pupil-teacher ratio. Good work was done and, to be fair, in the last budget, good work was done in respect of the capitation grants to schools and that needs to be recognised. It was a huge issue this time last year, particularly at the Oireachtas education committee. The pupil-teacher ratio is key and we have committed very clearly to 19:1 by the end of this Government. I will highlight some data that has come out of the Department in recent days. A total of 39,000 students in the country were in classes of over 30 students for the 2025-2026 academic year. One school in particular in Tipperary - St. Peter and Paul's CBS in Clonmel - actually had 38 students in one class in the academic year just gone, which realistically is twice what the programme for Government says it wants class sizes to be, so I reiterate that very important call for the reduction to 19:1 over the course of this Government.

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