Martin to resist cuts to education in budget [IrishTimes]
- Published: 14 November 2011
FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has accused the Government of having a “deeply cynical” approach to education and said his party would oppose any “indiscriminate cuts” in the upcoming budget.
Mr Martin said every significant expansion in educational participation had come about through the policies of Fianna Fáil governments when he delivered the address at the annual Seán Moylan commemoration in Kiskeam, Co Cork.
“Education is a core value for us and one where the need to challenge the current Government . . . The Government’s talk [is] about cutting teacher numbers, cutting special needs assistants, increasing class sizes, reducing the number of years of second-level education and preventing children from starting school at [age] four. If this agenda is implemented it will cause huge damage.”
Mr Martin warned that Ireland could only have a strong economy if it continued to give priority to education, saying the parts of the economy that had remained robust and created jobs were sectors in which “skills and advanced knowledge” were most important.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
