The government won the vote in the Dáil last Thursday because we outlined clearly the reasons we have had to implement savings in the education sector next year. The debate on the measures clearly showed that this government is working in the long-term interests of our country.

Over the past few weeks, I have consistently made the point that, in framing the Budget, we were faced with the worst economic circumstances in decades. Worldwide, countries are confronted by a transformed economic situation. Ireland is no different. We had to be realistic.

We have taken a balanced approach to this Budget. As the Taoiseach pointed out last week, our day-to-day spending exceeds our incoming revenue by over €1,000 for every woman, man and child in the State. Ten per cent of the cost of every teacher, doctor and nurse is paid for from borrowing. We cannot borrow our way out of this situation.

We have raised €2 billion in the Budget through taxation. We cannot raise more in 2009 without risking damaging jobs and the economy. Public sector spending has to be managed, too.

The Dáil debate last week afforded me the opportunity to put the education measures in context. It gave me the opportunity to set out the facts.

Spending on education has more than trebled since 1997, increasing from about €3.1 billion in 1997 to €9.6 billion today. The increase of €302 million for education next year is a significant achievement, given the current financial situation.

The government is committed to continuing to invest in education but we have to invest at a level that is consistent with what we can afford and what is sustainable given the economic circumstances.

As I said in the Dáil, teacher numbers have increased by about 15,000 since 1997. At primary level, 10,000 more teachers are now in our schools than in 1997, with 7,000 of those going into schools in the past six years. The continuation of this level of annual increase — of the order of 1,000 teachers each year — was just not sustainable for 2009.

The changes being implemented next year will mean that, overall, there will be 200 fewer teaching posts in primary schools and 200 fewer teaching posts in post-primary schools next September. That change represents less than 1pc of the overall teaching workforce.

In addition to extra teachers, significant additional supports have been given to schools, particularly in the area of special education. There are now 19,000 adults working directly with children with special educational needs.

We have also targeted significant resources at our most disadvantaged schools, with a range of additional financial and staffing resources being provided to over a quarter of our primary schools and a third of our post-primary schools. This has been achieved through the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme.

The bottom line is that our investment in education is about improving outcomes for our learners. While improving teacher numbers is important, we must also focus on measures to enhance the quality of education in our schools to ensure that increased resources lead to better outcomes for our children. The focus on class sizes in recent weeks, while an important issue in its own right, is only one facet of a wider debate about how we are ensuring that children and students get the most from our education system.

As international studies reveal, it is the quality of the teacher — not the size of the class — that largely determines education outcomes. Edward Walsh, founding president of the University of Limerick, pointed out last week that those who created the Celtic Tiger were educated at a time when class sizes were significantly larger than they are now or will be next year. Looking back on their school experience, most people will remember the quality of the teacher standing in front of the class rather than the number of pupils who sat next to them.

I know that from January the changes in substitution arrangements will present particular challenges for school managers but I felt that suspending part of the improvements made in 2003 was preferable to impacting more significantly on teacher numbers. I am asking teachers and school managers to work together to manage the changes at local level in the best interests of the children in their schools.

In relation to day-to-day funding for schools, I prioritised funding for primary schools recognising the submissions made by the management bodies. While I appreciate that the abolition of a range of grants will make it a challenging year ahead, most of the available funding was used to increase the standard rate of capitation grants for all schools.

We are dealing with an economic situation of unprecedented difficulty. The government had a collective duty to respond to that difficulty in the national interest. In doing so, the government sheltered education as much as possible. But considering, as a Government, the range of adjustment options across all departments, it was simply not possible to avoid tough decisions that affected the education sector.

I know that these decisions are not, of themselves, desirable and that they can only be justified by the imperative of securing the future economic stability of our nation. However, those who seek to alarm parents and the wider community by exaggerating the impact of the education measures in pursuit of their own agenda or for cheap political gain are doing the nation no service.

I am calling for cooperation from all the education partners in meeting the challenges facing us. This is a time for solidarity. It is a time to put the public interest before political or sectional self-interest and to work together in the common good. (First published in The Corkman, 6 Nov 2008)