Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Can anybody explain to me what has happened to our export figures for this year? It cannot be done, so we should forget comparisons between GDP and GNP. It is a nice point – the Department of Finance trots it out all the time and tells the Minister of State's Department to use it. It should tell the Department of Finance to get stuffed. It is not part of what we can do at all. The reality is that we just count the amount of money we spend per pupil on our educational system. That is the easiest measurement. There is nowhere to hide and we can all count it. It is in this document, worked out in international terms, so we know whether we are spending more or less or otherwise.