FINE Gael's education spokesman is facing the wrath of party colleagues after calling for amalgamations of many small primary schools, writes John Walshe.

Brian Hayes said a quarter of the country's 3,200 primary schools had four or fewer teachers and "economies of scale" should be introduced.

But he acknowledged that his call for amalgamating small rural schools was not likely to find favour with his fellow TDs.

He aired his proposals at the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) conference in Killarney, where many delegates made it clear they were also opposed to merging small schools.

IPPN director Sean Cottrell said small schools were viable, but some should operate in clusters, with one board of management and shared services.

The three-day conference "Primary Education -- Who Pays?" heard an acknowledgement from Green Senator Dan Boyle that there was a shortfall in state support for primary education.

He said people had been let down on spending promises, but that the money was simply not there.