Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

We agreed with the Minister's overall number in the budget. We put forward other options. We stated €40 million could be obtained from increasing the universal social charge for people earning over €115,000 but this proposal was not taken up. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government was able to magic up €20 million yesterday in the blink of an eye. The Government has admitted that the education cuts were not thought through. Now is not the time to rethink them and write letters to schools but the time to reverse the cuts and do the right thing, thereby protecting the future of communities, particularly the most vulnerable.