Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael)

Tá cineál slaghdán orm freisin. Tá rud éigin i mo scornach. Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit. Gabhaim comhghairdeas leis as a cheapachán mar Aire. Gabhaim buíochas leis as teacht isteach inniu. There is a novel by a Russian named Nabokov called Invitation to a Beheading. The main character invited finds out it is his own beheading. I was listening to Senator Power and I was amazed because I thought Fianna Fáil had changed. However, it did not take the Senator long to revert to type. There is no easy way here. We are running on empty at the moment. We are held up by the kindness of strangers but I use the term "kindness" in inverted commas. Nevertheless, it is a certain type of kindness.

To put forward proposals for a reduction in language support teachers and resource teaching hours may appear to have the same effect as a invitation to a beheading. However, the reality is different in this case. The Minister of State has clearly outlined the context in which these changes in language support and resource teaching are to take place, including the employment control framework and the fact that 160 extra mainstream teachers will be needed next September. Where does the Fianna Fáil Party believe this money will come from? It can be argued that the figure of 1,400 language support teachers was not done on any meaningful evaluation in the first place. In fact, in 2007 the then Minister, Mary Hanafin, announced an extra 200 language support teachers.