I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 24 and 25 together.
The Government's commitment to catering for the educational needs of the disadvantaged is evidenced by the continuing provision in this year's budget for the maintenance of literacy programmes and prison and traveller education under the aegis of the vocational educational committees. My Department have also acknowledged on an on-going basis the involvement of vocational schools with disadvantaged pupils by consistently allocating to the vocational sector over the last nine years the substantial majority of remedial and special class teacher posts, and my Department will maintain that provision again in 1988.
In accordance with a resolution passed by Dáil Éireann on 9 March a meeting of the central review committee under the Programme for National Recovery is to be convened in order to examine the implications of the decision to increase the pupil-teacher ratio in the vocational, community and comprehensive school sector. The Deputies will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment further pending the completion of that examination.