Vol. 577 No. 3
104 Mr. O'Shea 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; the sector by sector breakdown of the cuts; the implications for the teacher pupil ratio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30922/03]
I have made no specific decisions or amendments to the arrangements for the appointment of teachers arising from the Government decision regarding the reduction in the numbers employed in the education 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 and bodies within the sector and where this happens it will contribute to the target for the sector. I should be in a better position to assess the position towards the end of the first quarter of 2004.
