A Teacher's Union is warning the government that the consequences of cutbacks in education will be dire, and could lead to students dropping out of schools.
The TUI says student disaffect will grow, as a result of cuts to guidance counselling services, subjects and the Leaving Cert Applied programme.
Bernie Ruane is the President of the Teachers Union of Ireland - she's urging the government to think again:
"It's going to make it a very difficult time for school principals as well, they're going to have to make decisions on what they can offer", she said.
"…The other thing of course is that they're going to have to come along to some young teachers that are only in the school on fixed-term contracts and say to them 'sorry we don't have a job for you next year' ".