Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that the long-established safeguards that enabled Protestant and other minority faith families to send their children to schools which reflected their faith will continue and that the pupil-teacher ratio in respect of Protestant secondary schools will be maintained at the current rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33250/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I, along with my colleagues in Government, recognise the importance of ensuring that students from a Protestant background can attend a school that reflects their denominational ethos. At this point I do not propose to give any specific commitment on the allocation of teachers to schools for the 2012/13 school year.

The number of teaching posts that we can afford to fund in schools is a matter that I will have to consider with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the next budget and meeting our obligations under the EU/IMF Programme.

The Government will endeavour to protect front-line education services as best as possible. However, this must be done within the context of bringing our overall public expenditure into line with what we can afford as a country. All areas of Government will have to manage on a reduced level of resources. The challenge will be to ensure that the resources that can be provided are used to maximum effect to achieve the best possible outcome for pupils.