Minister for Education Mary Hanafin says she would like to remain in her current role after the election, if the next administration is led by Fianna Fáil.
In an interview yesterday with The Irish Times, she expresses the hope that she can complete a full five years in education. "I love politics and I love education. Put those together and I have my perfect job - and why would anyone want to give up their perfect job voluntarily?"
A former Irish and history teacher at Sion Hill, Blackrock in Dublin, Ms Hanafin succeeded Noel Dempsey 2½ years ago. There have been suggestions that she needs to gain the experience of an economic ministry to advance her leadership ambitions.
She takes issue with this. "This view always amuses me. Every single employer, industrialist or commentator will always comment on the pivotal importance of education, but the post of education minister is not always given the status it deserves.
"Education is one of the big spending departments [ the annual budget now exceeds €8.5 billion] and yet everyone says, would you not prefer a bigger ministry? The truth is, you could actually end up in a economic ministry with less of a budget."
It is also a portfolio she says which has a huge impact across all aspects of life - economic and otherwise. "My colleague in enterprise and employment might be in contact with Intel about bringing jobs into Ireland, but I would be talking to them about making sure they have science graduates.
Equally, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs deals with social issues, but they are also taking to me about family supports in education. Everything comes back to education and every person in the country has a view on education. I don't know if that is true in other areas."
Ms Hanafin says: "I would love to remain in education. Normally you would hope to get a five-year run at it. My choice, if I was asked, would be to remain in education."
She is widely credited with restoring high morale among teachers after the bruising ASTI dispute five years ago, but she has been strongly criticised by the INTO for her record on class size. About 15,000 parents and teachers have attended the INTO public meetings on the issue in recent months. In response, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced the appointment of 4,000 extra teachers a fortnight ago.
At next week's teacher conferences, Ms Hanafin will be under pressure to explain when these new teachers will be appointed but teachers say delegates see her as a strong advocate for the profession.
An extensive interview with Ms Hanafin will appear in next Tuesday's education section
