Quinn pledges detailed review of education spend [IrishTimes]
- Published: 26 April 2011
Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn today warned of further cuts in spending as he pledged to carry out a detailed review of expenditure in his department.
Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, Mr Quinn said he needed to reduce expenditure in terms of services and facilities.
"We are doing a public expenditure review at the behest of Brendan Howlin. What that means is that every programme of expenditure in every government department is looked at and we ask the fundamental question do we need this or can it be eliminated, reduced or transformed. This has worked in Canada and other countries," he said.
Mr Quinn said it would not be a "slash and burn" approach but rather a critical review of programmes. "There’s a difference between pruning a rose bush and digging out the plant," he said.
He reiterated that there would be no reversal of controversial cuts to special needs classes. "The cap will stay. What we will look at is how to better redeploy the ten and a half thousand special needs assistants across the spectrum," he said.
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