Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Education and Skills

To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a decision has been taken to continue to increase the pupil teacher ratio in fee paying schools until it reaches 28:1 as suggested in the McCarthy report and causing concern; and if he will make a statement on the matter?

Reply

The issues raised by the Deputy relate to budgetary matters. The budget for education, including 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. The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot at this stage anticipate any specific decisions the government may take in this regard.