Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 538: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the opinion that the suspension of the early retirement scheme for teachers may leave his Department open to legal challenges, in view of the fact that teachers who may have deferred their early retirement by a year did so in the expectation that the scheme would still operate by the time they retired; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40753/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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It was recently announced that the Early Retirement Scheme for teachers, which had operated on a pilot basis since 1996, has been suspended in all sectors until further notice. The Scheme, which consisted of 3 strands, was a voluntary scheme. Like other programmes under my Department's remit, the continuance of the pilot scheme is subject to available resources and to changes in Government policy. While the scheme has proven to be a useful management tool in the school system in the past, the current budgetary constraints mean that sometimes difficult decisions must be taken in order to meet the economic challenges faced by the country. My Department does not accept that any issue of legitimate expectation arises.