TUI General Secretary Peter MacMenamin said:

“It is unbecoming of the Minister for Education and Science that he seeks to engage in a ‘blame game’ when he should be attempting to stimulate meaningful discourse on how to roll back the most savage of his education cutbacks.

We completely reject any accusation of scaremongering. The teacher unions, management bodies, principals and parent groups are united in their stance on the withdrawal of substitution cover. The Minister is attempting to defend the indefensible and becomes more isolated by the day.

This retrogressive move will be hugely damaging to the education of every primary and second level student in the country

Minister O’ Keeffe’s attempts to divert attention from the Budget attacks are an act of desperation. His duty is to make sure that school business runs smoothly, but the withdrawal of substitution cover will cause chaos and irreparably damage our education system.”