Vol. 574 No. 2
141 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Science the way in which it is intended to achieve the 1,000 job cuts in the education sector recently announced by the Minister for Finance; if the cuts will include teaching posts; if he will give a sector by sector breakdown of the cuts; the implications for the pupil-teacher ratio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26493/03]
The Government decision on the reduction in the number employed in education will ultimately affect all organisations which receive funding from my Department. I am anxious in the first instance to ensure that all existing allocations are fully justified and do not involve any excess provision before I determine the precise measures necessary across the sector and the rate at which the target reduction is achieved over the next two years. Therefore, I cannot at this point say what implications there will be for the pupil-teacher ratio in any one sector. Tight financial control within the context of the 2004 Estimates provision is likely to have implications for the capacity to maintain existing numbers in some institutions within the sector.
