January 2012

INTO in the Media

Schools Exodus - Clare People
31st January 2012
Twelve primary school heads take early retirement as Croke Park deal kicks in. At least 12 school principals are to leave their posts in Clare over the coming weeks, along with well over 30 teachers, as the primary school sector in the county struggles to cope with the volume of retirements. A special investigation carried out by The Clare People last week has revealed that more than 1,000 years of collective teaching experience is to be lost to the schools of Clare at a stroke in February, as a host of teachers call time on their teaching careers ahead of the February 29 pension deadline as set out in the Croke Park agreement....General Secretary of the INTO Sheila Nunan said the proposals had caused unnecessary fear and anxiety in rural Ireland because they lack any overall plan or proposal for sustainable small schools....Clare INTO Executive and Mullagh NS principal Sean McMahon said; "It is particularly difficult to accept for rural communities and small schools to absorb these amazing changes at this point and time considering we just paid EUR1.25 billion to a failed bank and those that control it."

DEIS cuts issue - Evening Echo
31st January 2012
A crowd of more than 1,000 people mounted additional pressure on the Government at the weekend to try and force a U-turn on a budget cut which it is feared would badly damage schools in the city. The protest was organised by Tracey Ring, who has two sons attending Scoil Iosagain in Farranree, which is set to lose 14 teaching positions due to the budget change. It is feared up to 88 positions in total would be lost from schools in Cork city that are part of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) initiative due to the cutbacks. Parents and pupils from schools across the northside as well as from Mahon, Ballyphehane and Togher took part in the protest. It was also supported by the Irish National Teachers Organisation, with many teachers taking part in the demonstration...

School cuts will lead to ‘huge increases’ in class sizes, teachers say - thejournal.ie
31st January 2012
Proposed cuts to staffing levels in small schools will lead to “huge increases” in class sizes, a union representing teachers has warned. The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation said the changes would affect up to 100 schools across Ireland, some of which would face reductions in teacher numbers even as pupil enrolment rose sharply. “Last September, a school with 50 pupils could have expected three teachers next year. The budget changes mean that school will only have two teachers,” INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan said...

Morning Focus - Clare FM
31st January 2012
Education Cuts
Clare representatives of the INTO met with their general secretary last night regarding planned cuts to rural schools. Sheila Nunan (General Secretary, INTO) discusses the outcome of the meeting

INTO: Time to rethink small schools cuts - studentnews.ie
30th January 2012
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation today called on the Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn to rethink his budget cuts to small primary schools. The union said the proposals had caused unnecessary fear and anxiety in rural Ireland because they lack any overall plan or proposal for sustainable small schools.  The INTO today strongly criticised the government’s staffing cuts in small schools. Sheila Nunan general secretary of the primary teachers union said the loss of a teacher in up to a hundred small schools next September would see huge increases in class sizes. She said it was not a case of one child extra per class but five or six additional children per class in classrooms where teachers are already teaching two, three or four class groups in the same room along with special needs children....

The Scott Williams Show - Q102
30th January 2012
Croke Park Agreement
Interview with Regina Doherty TD (Fine Gael) and Noel Ward (INTO) who discuss the implementation of the Croke Park Agreement and issues relating to pay increments

INTO slams budget proposals for small schools - Clare Champion
27th January 2012
Irish National Teachers' Organisation general secretary, Sheila Nunan, will address Clare delegates at a meeting in Ennis on Monday night amid growing concern about the impact of proposed cutbacks on small and disadvantaged schools. Delegates from the four main branches of the INTO in Clare will attend the West County Hotel at 7pm. According to official figures, 17% of Clare children are in classes of fewer than 20 pupils; 63% are in classes of between 20 and 29 and 20% are in classes of over 30...

Public Meeting - Leitrim Observer
27th January 2012
The Ballinamore/Breine INTO (Irish National Teachers Organisation) branch is holding a public meeting in relation to the budget cuts in education in The Commercial Hotel, Ballinamore on Monday 30 January 2012 at 8:00pm. Guest speakers will further elaborate on the serious implications set out at the recent INTO Branch Meeting and of which the community should be aware of the changes that were imposed in the recent budget relative to further erosion of school bus transport; change in pupil teacher ratio; withdrawal of financial support to schools; withdrawal of educational supports within schools and threatened closure of local schools. Anyone interested in the future of our local school community should attend to show their support.

Parents to march in city over DEIS school cuts - Evening Echo
27th January 2012
"We cannot allow the Government to do this to our kids" - that is the call from one of the parents who will be taking part in a protest this weekend against the planned cutbacks to schools across Cork. It is feared up to 88 positions could be lost from schools in the city that are part of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) initiative....Saturday's demonstration is also being supported by the Cork City North Branch of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO). A spokesperson for the INTO said: "These cuts will hit our most vulnerable communities and are completely unjustified."...

National Handwriting Competition - Vale Star
26th January 2012
EBS in conjunction with the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) has launched the 2012 EBS/INTO National Handwriting Competition for students around the country, as part of their annual campaign to highlight the importance of having good handwriting. This year the competition is celebrating its 20th year and is open to all national schools throughout the country. Children can enter through their local primary schools. The competition traditionally attracts entries from over 100,000 children all over Ireland each year. This year entrants are being asked to write a piece of prose or a poem about their own family or copy apiece connected to family in some way. Students are not being judged on content but the style, flair, neatness and layout of their handwriting. Entries are received in categories ranging from infants to 6th class, with a special education prize also being awarded. The closing date for entries to the 2012 EBS/INTO National Handwriting Competition is Friday 24th February. For further details visit www. ebs.ie or www.mylocalnews.ie.

Students 'will not be hit as teachers retire from schools' - Irish Independent
24th January 2012
The exodus of staff from schools at the end of February will not leave pupils without teachers, parents have been assured.....The Irish National Teachers Organisation said it did not anticipate recruitment problems because there were as many as 1,000 newly qualified primary teachers currently without regular work...

'Double whammy' payment to retired teachers criticised - Irish Examiner
24th January 2012
Ministers are under attack for allowing retired teachers to receive a "double whammy" payment by being rehired after they take a lucrative pension....The Irish National Teachers' Organisation defended the move, saying their members were entitled to the payments and had endured major pay cuts...

How the cuts will hurt - Kildare Nationalist
24th January 2012
In last November's Budget Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn targeted DEIS schools in an effort to reduce his department's spend. DEIS stands for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools. There are 11 primary schools and seven secondary schools in Kildare, operating under the DEIS scheme.....For principal Mary English of Athys Scoil Mhicil Naofa which has 685 students and 56 teachers the effect of any cuts to the DEIS funding would be substantial.....The principal of Ballymany Junior School in Newbridge and Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) Executive Committee member Brian O'Reilly says that DEIS is a product of the failures in the education system by successive ministers and government....

Lunchtime Show - Newstalk
23rd January 2012
Teachers Retirement
Shelia Nunan (General Secretary, INTO) explains the news of Up to 1,600 teacher expected to retire with pension but still remain working for a few months

One News - 98FM
23rd January 2012
Retiring Teachers
News Item: It’s emerged that some teachers who retire at the end of February could be rehired as subs for the rest of the year. Interview with Sheila Nunan (INTO)

Midlands Today - Midlands 103
23rd January 2012
Teacher Retirements
Helen O’Gorman (Principal, St. Mary’s National School) discusses the impact of widespread retirement by teachers on schools and students.

Eleven News - Newstalk
23rd January 2012
Teachers who retire at the end of February with a full pension could continue working for months afterwards. Shelia Nunan (General Secretary, INTO) comments.

Main Morning News - Midlands 103
23rd January 2012
Teacher Retirement
Teachers who retire at the end of February with a full pension could continue working for months afterwards. Interview with Sheila Nunan (INTO)

Breakfast Show - Newstalk
23rd January 2012
Teacher Retirement. Irish Times reports that 1,600 school teachers are due to retire at the end of February before they see a drop in pension entitlements. Sile Nunan (General Secretary, INTO) discusses the figures

Gaeltacht parents oppose teacher ratio changes in smaller primary schools - Irish Times
23rd January 2012
Parents OF children in small Gaeltacht schools have called on the Minister for Education to outline how he believes imposing new pupil-teacher ratios in small primary schools will save money in the long term....Irish National Teachers' Organisation members attending a consultative conference in Galway also described the move as a "blunt instrument". The organisation's general secretary Sheila Nunan described the budgetary measures as "flawed and lacking in planning" and called for a "coherent, long-term and resourced strategy for sustainable schools that met children's needs irrespective of location"...

City Protest Against Cuts to Rural Schools - Galway Bay FM
21st January 2012
"Ruairi Quinn, Éist linn". That was the demand from a group of over 250 protestors who gathered in a the city this morning in opposition to planned cuts to rural schools. The demonstration took place outside the Clayton Hotel where the Irish National Teachers Organisation is holding a consultative conference. The conference aims to discuss staffing issues following the government proposal to increase pupil teacher ratios. Today's protest follows a special meeting held in Ballinasloe last evening [Jan 20] where the future impact of such a proposal was also debated.

Protests at new teacher ratios - Irish Times
21st January 2012
Parents concerned about new pupil-teacher ratios affecting the viability of small schools are voicing their concerns in Galway today. Families in Clare, Offaly and Westmeath have been invited to joint counterparts from across the west who are opposed to the ratio changes implemented by Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn. They will demonstrate their support for the Irish National Teachers Organisation's (INTO) stance on the issue at a union consultative conference in a Galway hotel this morning...

TD attends school debate - Meath News and Sport
21st January 2012
Meath West TD Damien English was challenged by the parents of primary school children at a question and answer session in Cortown last week. Deputy English was invited along to St Brigid's National School on Thursday, January 12, to listen to the concerns of parents regarding education cuts. Organiser Colin Quigley, who teaches at the school and is also an Irish National Teachers Organisation delegate, said the TD was challenged a number of times....

Kildare Today - KFM
20th January 2012
Primary Teaching. Report on primary education discussed with reference to lack of use active learning methods in larger classes and the impact of cutbacks -Interview: Sheila Nunan (INTO)

Deis protesters picket Department of Education - Irish Times
20th January 2012
Between 3,000 and 4,000 parents, children, teachers and principals of disadvantaged schools protested loudly, with music and hundreds of home-made, multi-coloured banners outside the Department of Education yesterday, against proposed cuts to teacher numbers....Noreen Flynn, president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, said if "this Government wants to show its commitment to children it should take away the tax loopholes that the wealthy enjoy". The money raised should be used to educate and provide jobs for young people. Tax those who can afford it," she said...

Parents appeal for schools to be saved from 'Budget bludgeon' - Irish Independent
20th January 2012
The Government was yesterday accused of using the Budget to slash frontline services in small and disadvantaged schools. Thousands of angry parents and teachers protested outside the offices of the Department of Education in Dublin over proposals to cut the number of teaching posts in the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools programme. INTO President Noreen Flynn told demonstrators: "I know you stand in solidarity here with communities all around Ireland in schools large and small devastated by the Budget cuts. "The Budget is being used as a blunt instrument to cut frontline services in small schools and disadvantaged schools. The money saved is going from education to feed the massive debt created by greedy bankers and speculators"...

DEIS rally draws 6,000 protesters - Irish Daily Mail
20th January 2012
Thousands of protesters rallied outside the Department of Education yesterday against cuts to disadvantaged schools. Children from across Dublin held up brightly painted placards and chanted alongside parents and teachers against a proposed reduction in the number of teachers in DEIS schools...

Six One News - RTE Radio One
19th January 2012
Education Protest. Parents, children and staff from disadvantaged schools in Dublin demonstrated outside the Department of Education today in protest at cuts to teacher numbers. Emma O' Kelly reports. Interview: Orla Hanahoe (School Principal), Catherine Crowley (School Principal).

Five News - RTE Radio 1
19th January 2012
Education Cuts. The Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has told the Dail that nothing will be done to diminish the status of DEIS schools. Mention of INTO protest today.

Drivetime - RTE Radio 1
19th January 2012
Education Cuts. Feature on today's INTO organised protest over cuts to disadvantaged schools -Reporter: Brian Lally

Midlands Today - Midlands 103
19th January 2012
Education. Noreen Flynn (President, INTO) discusses a new study by the ESRI on primary schools and teaching.

Social class, gender 'have huge effect on way pupils taught' - Irish Independent
19th January 2012
Children are being taught in dramatically different ways depending on their gender, social background and the age of the teacher....Sheila Nunan, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, said the curriculum was designed in 1999 and implemented on the understanding that there was a need to reduce class sizes. However, she said one in five of the primary school population are in classes of more than 30, which makes interactive teaching methods very difficult. Ms Nunan said much of what teachers learn in colleges of education is "washed out" after a few years of having to deal with large classes, a lack of resources and poor school buildings...

Insight into our classrooms - Irish Independent
19th January 2012
The revelation that some primary schoolchildren spend far less time being taught core subject such as maths and English once again raises a vexing question on education....The report has also triggered a response from the teachers' unions about class sizes with INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan pointing out that one fifth of all primary schoolchildren are still in classes of 30 or more pupils...

Young women are the best educators - Irish Examiner
19th January 2012
Your child is more likely to get a better primary education if their teacher is young or female or if they attend a single-sex or fee-paying school....The INTO said the finding in relation to the dominance of traditional teaching methods was not surprising given that 100,000 (20%) of primary pupils are in classes of more than 30, making active learning and group work more difficult....Its general secretary Sheila Nunan said the differences in methods used by older teachers might be explained by the Department of Education's reliance on teachers undertaking their own continuous training rather than investing more in professional development...

Dublin's Talking - Sunshine 106.8
18th January 2012
Report. Interview with Peter Mullan (INTO) who discusses a new ESRI report on the differences in the way children are taught based on their gender.

Drivetime - RTE Radio 1
18th January 2012
Teacher Training
Feature on student teachers and their opinions about future employment in Ireland -Reporter: Della Kilroy -Interview: Dr. Sean Rowland (Founder, Hibernia College) & Sheila Nunan (INTO) [5:38pm]- Mention also of curriculum, patronage and SNA issues

Three News - Newstalk
18th January 2012
Education
According to a new study by the ESRI - the standard of education for Primary School children depends on what school they attend and they type of teacher they have. Quote: Noreen Flynn (INTO)

National Lunchtime - Today FM
18th January 2012
Education Study
The standard of education for primary school children can vary dramatically depending on what school they attend and the teacher they have, according to ESRI study. Laura Byrne reports. Interview: Dr Emer Smith (Research Professor, ESRI), Noreen Flynn (President, INTO)

Boosting disadvantaged schools - Irish Times
18th January 2012
Sir, – Twenty-two primary principals, of the Cork City Northside Principals’ Group, wish to issue a cautious welcome to the Minister for Education’s recent announcement seeking a report on the effect the Budget will have on DEIS-designated (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools. We welcome the three studies published on January 13th, by the Inspectorate and the Educational Research Centre, which prove what we already know: that children are benefiting from the small class sizes, the enhanced learning support and the effective reading and maths initiatives in DEIS schools...

Call for reversal of education cuts - Galway Independent
18th January 2012
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) has this week called for a complete reversal of proposed cuts that would see between 40 and 50 teaching posts lost at disadvantaged primary schools across Galway City and County over the next three years...

'Rural schools the bedrock of community' - Clare People
17th January 2012
Declan Kelleher has been a central figure in education in Clare for more than four decades. In his own words, the former INTO president and principal at Corofin National School remembers a life devoted to the youth of a county. In conversation with Andrew Hamilton. "Following from my earlier years in school politics, I immediately became involved with the INTO and attended every INTO conference since 1972 with one exception. The INTO was never just about defending the position of teachers, it was about promoting the vital importance of the primary years in education. "Indeed, were it not for the work of the INTO in highlighting our national underinvestment in our primary schools, many school buildings would still be in a disgraceful state. In 1985, I was elected onto the National Education Committee of the INTO and for 11 years was engaged in educational research topics such as educational disadvantage, home school links, role of the principal teacher and curriculum reform. After that, in 1996, I was elected to represent Clare, Tipperary and Waterford on the INTO Executive and was delighted to organise the first strike in a rural primary school in protest at the failure of the Department of Education to extend the remedial service to rural primary schools. "It seemed that pupils in rural primary schools simply didn't count. Several opportunities also arose to organise mass meetings of all education partners to highlight our lack of overall investment in primary education and there was always huge parental support on this issue....

Good Morning Dublin - Dublin City FM
16th January 2012
Education Cuts - Peter Mullan (INTO) discusses budget cuts to dsiadvantaged schools.

One News - Clare FM
16th January 2012
The former president on the INTO believes school that have less than a dozen pupils are unsustainable. Interview with Declan Kelleher (former president on the INTO).

Good Morning Dublin - Dublin City FM
16th January 2012
Peter Mullan (INTO) discusses budget cuts to disadvantaged schools.

Morning Focus - Clare FM
16th January 2012
Primary Education. Declan Kelleher (Former President, INTO) discusses the current state of primary school education and the issue of public sector retirement.

Marian Finucane - RTE Radio 1
15th January 2012
Education Cuts
Panel discuss the decision to reverse cuts to schools in disadvantaged areas and issues relating to teachers' pay - Ross Maguire (New Beginning), Pat McArdle (Economist), Sheila Nunan (INTO), Paddy Duffy (PR consultant) and Dan O'Brien (Irish Times). [11:42] 5min. Some discussion on class sizes and pupil/teacher ratio. [12:25] 6min

More ministers pressure Quinn over school cuts - Sunday Business Post
15th January 2012
The Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, came under sustained pressure from a succession of senior Labour Party figures before he agreed to revise his cuts to disadvantaged schools....The Irish National Teachers Organisation is believed to have lobbied intensively against a national increase in the pupil-teacher ratio....

Limerick children hungry and tired from neglect - Limerick Post
14th January 2012
"By far the most common form of abuse which we see in the classroom is neglect." Many primary school children are coming to school hungry, tired from lack of sleep and suffering from neglect.The Limerick teachers INTO representative, Joe Lyons says that while teachers are alert to the possibility that some children are at risk of sex abuse, "by far the most common form of abuse which we see in the classroom is neglect" Mr Lyons was commenting in the wake of calls on Ireland from an international expert on child protection, to make reporting of abuse mandatory....

Education Minister pledges rethink on his plan to slash funding to primary schools in disadvantaged areas - Irish Daily Mail
14th January 2012
...The Irish National Teachers' Organisation welcomed the review into the DEIS cuts, which it described as a 'very significant development'. Sheila Nunan, General Secretary of the INTO, said the two reports formed a 'cast-iron case for the Budget proposals for DEIS to be fully withdrawn'. 'It's not broken: don't try and fix it, should have been the advice to the minister before the budget, said Miss Nunan...

Eleven News - 2FM
13th January 2012
Deis Schools. The Union Representing Primary School Teachers has welcomed todays row-back by the Education Minister on cuts to Deis schools. Shelia Nunan (Irish National Teachers Organisation) comments

Morning Focus - Clare FM
13th January 2012
Education Cuts. Sean McMahon (INTO Executive Committee) discusses Education Minister Ruairi Quinn's decision to review cuts to teachers at disadvantaged schools. Note: beginning of interview missing

Quinn admits teacher cuts 'mistake' - Irish Times
13th January 2012
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has admitted to making a "mistake" in announcing cuts to teacher numbers in disadvantaged schools....The Irish National Teachers' Organisation has welcomed the review into the Deis cuts, which it described as a 'very significant development'....

Teachers welcome review of budget cuts - Irish Times
13th January 2012
A government review of cuts in teacher numbers to disadvantaged primary schools was seen as a "very significant development" the Irish National Teachers' Organisation said in a statement....

Staff cut U-turn 'still fails poorest pupils' - Irish Daily Mail
13th January 2012
Teachers criticise Quinn's failure to restore funding....However, the Irish National Teachers' organisation described the review as a 'significant development' and a 'step in the right direction'. General Secretary Sheila Nunan said the proposed cuts would mean a step back for the most vulnerable pupils....

Union urges Quinn to reverse school cuts - Irish Examiner
A leading teachers' union has urged Education Minister Ruairi Quinn to reverse cutbacks for some of the most disadvantaged schools in the country after he announced a full review of the issue....While Mr Quinn did not explicitly say he is planning a U-turn on the initial budget cutbacks, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation said the announcement was "a very significant development"....

Lunchtime Show - Newstalk
12th January 2012
Education cuts
The Minister for Education last night announced a review of teaching allocations and budget cuts to disadvantaged schools. Sheila Nunan (General Secretary, INTO) responds

Threat to small schools - Southern Star
7th January 2012
Public meeting called by West Cork teachers to make general public aware of extent of cutbacks. A public meeting has been called to address the fact that small schools across the country with four teachers or fewer could start to close in 2012.....Meanwhile, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation has analysed the department's figures and calculated that the cutbacks could mean the loss of 100 teaching posts in 2012 and the loss of a total of 250 posts over the three years .Under the budgetary changes, a school which this year got a third teacher for 49 pupils - will see that number rise to 56 pupils over three years. This could mean schools of 50 pupils will only have two teachers next year, with an average class size of 25 pupils. And schools which this year gets a fourth teacher for 81 pupils - will see that number rise to 83 next year and 86 in two years' time. The general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, Sheila Nunan, said: 'there will be an obvious impact in small schools where teachers are teaching two, three or four class groups in the same room.' She maintained the changes would result in the loss of a teacher in a hundred schools next year with huge increases in class sizes. And said: 'it is not a case of one child extra per class, but five or six additional children per class.' Ms Nunan criticised the changes, which are to be applied retrospectively saying: 'next year's teacher allocation will be given to schools on the basis of pupils enrolled in schools last September....

Small relief for disadvantaged schools - Limerick Post
7th January 2012
Schools in Limerlck's most disadvantaged areas, which were facing into a New Year of savage cuts, have been given a small reprieve. But principals at the schools affected say these are still cuts at a time when more Is needed rather than less. Schools designated under the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools} programme were to have their class sizes Increased and lose the teachers who help non-national children learn English...."Education Is a key pillar In the Regeneration process,' said Margaret Bernard who represents Limerick on the Executive of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO). "If supports for education are withdrawn, commitment to the whole regeneration concept must be questioned. These communities did not enjoy the fruits of the Celtic Tiger. Children get only one chance at an education. They deserve the best chance society can give them"....The Irish National Teachers Organisation is currently in negotiations with the Department of Education on the number of hours being allocated for learning Support teachers....

Seventy teaching posts under threat - Donegal News
6th January 2012
Paula Muldoon
I am writing on behalf of teachers in the Counties of Donegal and Leitrim whose jobs and the schools in which they work are under threat following the savage cuts in Education in Budget 2012. We estimate that at least 70 posts are under threat in County Donegal alone with the change in the recent appointments schedule in 1-4 teacher schools and the General Allocation Model (The general allocation scheme is designed to ensure that all schools have enough teaching hours to meet the immediate needs of pupils with high incidence special educational needs and those who require learning support). The lack of clear information from the Department of Education and Science itself has created huge confusion in schools...

Union - Pupils will lose out over changes to learning support - Irish Examiner
5th January 2012
Schools may lose special teaching hours next autumn, it has been claimed. A union said red tape could see teachers driving between schools instead of being in class. The Department of Education last month announced reforms to the way it allocates learning support and resource teachers who work with children with common learning difficulties such as dyslexia or those who need extra help with reading and maths. For almost a decade, primary schools have been given such staff based on pupil numbers, taking into account factors such as if a school has high numbers of disadvantaged children. This general allocation model is being changed from the autumn, when the number of special needs teachers will be determined by the number of classes instead of pupils... The Irish National Teachers' Organisation said it was inundated with complaints from schools as teachers would be forced unnecessarily to work at a number of schools...

Businesses owe EUR124m for water to local authorities - Irish Independent
2nd January 2012
Schools and state agencies ,owe millions of euro in unpaid water charges to city and county councils...The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) said the Government was warned three years ago that schools would struggle to pay bills. "In 2009, a 250-pupil school saw its annual bill almost double from EUR1,000 per year to EUR1,985. Even schools that reduced their usage saw their bills increase," a spokesman said...

Quinn: I was wrong on DEIS cuts - The Union Post
January 2012
Education Minister Ruairí Quinn has admitted he made a "mistake" over the announcement of cuts in teaching number to schools in advantaged areas...INTO General Secretary Sheila Nunan claimed the research had clearly shown that the extra resources provided to DEIS schools had been well used. She also claimed it showed up the folly of the original budget decision. Ms. Nunan added: "It's not broken; don't try and fix it, should have been the advice to the minister before the budget"...