TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen insisted yesterday that the education cuts announced in the Budget would not be reversed, despite growing pressure for another Government climbdown. In a briefing for Irish journalists accompanying him on a trade mission to China, Mr Cowen was asked whether there would be any modification of the education measures in the Budget, particularly the increase in the pupil-teacher ratio.
"We have to respect the budgetary parameters that we have," replied Mr Cowen. "We've made that decision; it's one of the decisions we had to make in the education area in order to compensate for other add-on costs which were unavoidable, and that's the context in which these decisions are taken."
A Labour Party motion calling for a reversal of the decision to increase class sizes will be debated in the Dáil next week as teachers and school managers step up their campaign to have the decision reversed.
Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae has raised doubts over his support for the Government in the Dáil vote on the Labour motion.
He is demanding that the Budget plan to increase the pupil-teacher ratio be reversed, and has arranged a meeting with Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe next week to discuss his concerns.
"I am not at all satisfied with the overall impact the Budget changes will have in education, such as the pupil-teacher ratio increase and the suspension of substitution cover for short-term sick leave and school business," Mr Healy-Rae said.
Two Fianna Fáil councillors in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown yesterday attacked the Government over medical cards and class sizes and accused the Taoiseach and his Ministers of being out of touch with the lives of ordinary people. "They are also out of touch with the membership of Fianna Fáil," said Cllrs Gerry Horkan and Barry Conway.
Concern about the education cuts has also been expressed by Green Party councillors who want the decision reversed, as does Paul Gogarty TD, who said yesterday that he opposed the Budget measure increasing the pupil-teacher ratio.
The Labour Party Dáil motion deplores the education cuts and calls on the Government to reverse the decision to increase class sizes at primary and secondary levels.
Labour spokesman on education Ruairí Quinn maintained that the range of cutbacks that emerged from the Budget and from the subsequent announcement by Mr O'Keeffe would cause "enormous damage" to the education system.
He accused the Fianna Fáil-led Government of reneging on commitments it had made to reduce class sizes in its 2002 and 2007 programmes for government.
The Dáil debate will last for six hours on Wednesday and Thursday, and the vote will be called on Thursday morning. Primary school managers said yesterday that the proposed changes would cause chaos in schools.
The seven management bodies of more than 3,000 primary schools have united to combat what they described as "discriminatory and morally unsustainable'' Budget cuts.
The seven groups represent 21,000 volunteers on school boards of management, upon whom the management of the primary school system depends.