Education expenditure and proposed cutbacks
Collins sought details of proposed education spending cuts and assurances against cuts in 1978 or 1979 amid rising school enrolment. Wilson said he had announced no 1978 cutbacks and assured the House the Government would meet its educational responsibilities; remaining questions were deferred to tomorrow.
asked the Minister for Education if he will make a comprehensive statement on the proposed cutbacks in current or capital expenditure in education, in the light of recent ministerial statements on Government expenditure; the subheads which will be affected in current expenditure; and the projects which will be affected in capital expenditure.
Comment on this
: I am not aware of which ministerial statement the Deputy has in mind.
I have not stated that there will be cutbacks in current or capital expenditure in 1978 and, accordingly, the final part of the question from the Deputy does not seem to me to arise.
Comment on this
: I understand from the Minister's previous reply that he is ad unum with his colleagues but not with the Minister for Economic Planning and Development and the article in the magazine Magill——
Comment on this
: Can the Minister give an assurance to the House that in relation to current and capital expenditure on education there will not be cutbacks in 1978 or 1979? Taking into account the statement the other day of Professor Tussing about the expected rapid rise in the school population——
Comment on this
: I am ad unum with the Minister for Economic Planning and Development, who is trying to produce plans for full employment in the country. I assure the Deputy that this Government, as they have always done, will face up to their responsibilities with regard to education and that the stagnant pool in which I had to look when I took over——
Comment on this
: ——is now a flowing stream. It was stagnant right down the line and if the Deputy wants details I will give them to him. We will not be afraid to face up to our responsibilities and to the problems that will arise from an increased school population. We dealt previously with the free secondary education scheme where numbers doubled in ten years. The young people of the country are in safekeeping while their educational needs are being looked after by this Government.
