The Green party will oppose education cuts in Budget 2011 ... oh really?

I've started (what has turned out to be a very interesting) Politics.ie thread on this here. This thread is definitely worth a read just to see the bare faced denial that there have been education cuts from Green Party members posting on the thread ... even in the face of irrefutable proof.

Paul Gogarty has claimed the education cuts from Budget 2009 have been reversed. He also claimed that his support of these cuts made him "vomit continuously", And what of poor old Trevor Sargent? He says the education cuts "turns my stomach".

According to todays Irish Times Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley made clear his party would oppose education cuts. “You can look at the renewed programme for Government and you can see there that there are priorities that have been put in place, for example education spending is extremely important,” he said.

Well I have some news for Mr. Gogarty, Mr. Sargent, and Minister Gormley... The education cuts have not been reversed. In fact, there were education cuts in the December 2009 budget, and there continue to be education cuts in 2010.


"Funding the University sector in Ireland" - The extent of the financial and operational crisis facing the university sector has been outlined in a stark letter sent to the seven presidents by Higher Education Authority (HEA) chief executive Tom Boland. He tells the colleges to brace themselves for an unprecedented range of cuts over the next year as the Government seeks to achieve €3 billion in overall exchequer savings. Colleges are advised to take “whatever action is needed’’ in advance of reductions in core funding.

Cutbacks in staff numbers and in the range of programmes on offer appear inevitable. The colleges have been told also they can expect no increase in student charges for the next academic year.

It is a bleak scenario. The colleges are being asked to manage record numbers of students with greatly reduced resources.


"30 disadvantaged schools to lose librarians" - It has been announced that up to 30 of the country's most disadvantaged schools are to lose librarian services that were granted in an attempt to boost literacy levels. Tánaiste and Minister for Education Mary Coughlan has confirmed that the contracts of many of the librarians working on the scheme will not be renewed over the summer. €9m has been invested to open the libraries.


"FF/Green Party announce 353 fewer SNA posts" - Minister for Education Mary Coughlan has told the Dáil that 353 fewer special needs assistants will be sanctioned following completion of a review of special education.


This document from UCD "Education policy choices in an economic downturn" outlines additional education cuts - “The economic turnaround has had immediate effects on education.” Professor Sheelagh Drudy says. “The December 2009 budget extended the cuts in education. The 2008 October budget set out a programme of cuts in services which included an increase in class sizes in primary and post-primary schools, and a consequent loss of teaching posts, cuts in the allocations to teacher professional development, cuts in higher education funding and cutbacks on a range of schemes designed to support disadvantaged and marginalised pupils.” Commenting on impact of the 2009 budget cuts, Drudy noted that, in addition to pay-cuts for teachers (along with all public servants), education cuts amounted to €134 million and included reduced funding for the Strategic Innovation Fund in education, further reductions in the allocations to higher education institutions, reductions in rates of student support grants and grants to Youthreach and VTOS, ‘rationalisation’ of teacher support services and ‘efficiencies’ in school transport.


The National Association of VTOS Co-ordinators - The loss of the maintenance grant for VTOS students doing PLC courses, uneven though it was, will make progression for our graduates more difficult


Further education cuts are outlined in the "Summary of Budget Measures 2010".


I'm not sure what planet Gormley and Gogarty are currently resident on, but the Green Party claim that "education will be protected" and that the "education cuts have been reversed" are clearly nonsense.

Keep on vomiting Paul.