Shane Ross (Independent)

I note the most important sentence in the Minister of State's reply, namely, "The Minister for Education and Science has made it clear that while she would have liked to have been able to reduce primary class sizes further for the next school year that simply was not possible in the present economic circumstances". That indicates to me that the pupils of Ireland are the first casualties of the cutbacks by this Government. Can the Minister of State give me a commitment that the commitment made in the programme for Government on pupil-teacher ratios will be held to before the lifetime of this Government is over?