Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I should have said "the Taoiseach".

I could give the House 24 examples of items put in place in such a way that they continue after elections. There is nothing wrong with that.

The real selling point is that the Minister should state that this is her intention and that of the Government, along with the date on which it will be delivered. If, horrors or horrors, the Minister is not back in Government the next time, at least she will be able to point from the Opposition benches to the group running the country refusing to meet the well-deserved commitments she gave. The Minister wins every way. If she gets back into office she can provide the extra teachers, if that is how long it takes to do so. There is no reason the Minister cannot take that action. It is straight forward, honest bargaining, and the Minister should stand up and do it.