Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A copy of my opening statement, if not already circulated, will be circulated soon. I thank the committee for the opportunity to present to it the 2014 Estimate for the Department of Education and Skills. I propose to make a short opening statement and I am happy to provide further detail, as required, as we work through the Estimate. I also make the observation that we are having this debate in regard to expenditure for 2014 while still in the month of January 2014. Last year, because of a different timetable we met in June to consider expenditure for 2013.
The net sum proposed for my Department for 2014 is €7,848.5 million, made up of current expenditure of €7,304.7 million and capital expenditure of €543.8 million. The allocation for current expenditure incorporates net pay related savings of €177 million under the Haddington Road agreement. In addition to voted expenditure, there is a non-voted allocation for this year of €362 million under the national training fund.
My Department has supplied some briefing material regarding the Estimate, which members will have received. This material supplements the content of the Revised Estimates volume published on 18 December last, much earlier than usual. Deputies will be aware of the changes made to the overall budgetary timetable, including the introduction of an October budget. Notwithstanding the teething problems that accompany such changes, the bringing forward of the budgetary process provides for much earlier Oireachtas involvement in relation to the budget. The year 2014 will be the second year for which my Department's Estimate follows the new performance budgeting format, with expenditure shown across the Department's four high level goals. The expenditure information is supplemented with broader detail on programme outputs and outcomes, widening the scope of the Estimates process.
On current expenditure, Deputies will note that almost €6.2 billion of my Department's gross current expenditure allocation of €7.9 billion for 2014 will go on pay andpensions. This equates approximately to €4 in every €5. This is not surprising given that about one third of all public sector employees are in the education sector, with some 92,000 whole-time posts spread across that sector. In addition, there are some 2,700 civil and public service posts in other education bodies and agencies. The pension bill pays lump sums and the pensions of some 42,500 retired people.
In addition to providing expenditure details in respect of each subhead area, the Estimates and briefing material gives information regarding the main outputs to be achieved under each of the Department's high level goals. Information is also provided on savings measures introduced to maintain education expenditures within their overall ceiling. These measures were required in order to ensure that the overall Government deficit position remained inside the GDP limit of 5.1% for 2014. The current estimate for 2014 takes account of savings and expenditure reductions of some €44 million. I am happy to discuss these in the examination of the relevant expenditure programmes.
Implementation of certain measures announced as part of previous budgets will also continue during 2014. While the preference would be to avoid taking any such measures, the reality is that we are still in the process of restoring our economy equilibrium. However, we are getting there. I have also sought with my Department to prudently balance and manage education expenditures across the 2012 to 2014 period, which is the period covered by the last comprehensive expenditure review. Work will shortly commence on a new expenditure review to cover the years ahead.
Notwithstanding the requirement to secure savings on expenditure, budget 2014 has again sought to protect front-line education services as far as possible. The pupil-teacher ratio in non fee-charging schools at primary and post-primary levels has been protected for the third year in a row. The 2014-15 year will see up to a net additional 1,400 teachers recruited to schools, providing positions for newly-qualified and unemployed teachers. Two thirds of these will be mainstream teachers, while one third will be resource teachers supporting children with special educational needs. In addition, I secured agreement for the recruitment of up to an additional 390 special needs assistant posts by 2014-2015, on top of the earlier ceiling of 10,575 posts.
The 2014 allocation includes seed capital funding, using proceeds from the national lottery licence transaction to allow primary schools without book rental schemes to set up such schemes. This will assist in reducing back-to-school costs for parents. I remain determined to push ahead with important educational reforms and in this regard have provided a further €9 million in 2014 to sustain the literacy and numeracy strategy. I am also providing approximately €5 million towards the reform of the junior cycle. Deputies will be aware that the junior certificate will be replaced with the new junior cycle student award. I also expect that high speed broadband will have been rolled out to all second level schools by September of this year, in time for the start of the academic year. My Department's expenditure programme for 2014 will continue to provide funding for training and reskilling, both for those in employment and for those seeking work. In order to help tackle youth unemployment, a minimum of 2,000 training places will be ring-fenced on the Momentum programme for under 25s who are out of work in 2014, at a cost of €6 million.
On capital Expenditure, my Department's €544 million capital expenditure allocation for 2014 will be in the main used in the ongoing delivery of the five-year 2012-2016 school building programme. This involves 275 major school building projects and an additional 80,000 school places to meet continuing demographic increases. The allocation includes some €65 million under the Government's stimulus initiatives of 2012 and June 2013. These initiatives include enabling works for the development of the new DIT campus at Grangegorman and 28 additional school building projects. There are 70 school projects scheduled to commence construction this year as part of the five-year plan, delivering over 27,500 permanent school places, of which some 21,000 are additional places. The projects will support 3,200 direct jobs and 640 indirect jobs in 2014. Projects include, 22 new schools and 12 extensions at primary level, 12 new schools and 20 extensions at second-level, and three new special schools and one major special school extension. Together with the school projects already announced under the jobs and investment package last June, and other ongoing projects from 2013, this means that a total of 168 major school projects will be on site in 2014. This represents significant investment by any measure. As 2014 progresses, projects scheduled to begin construction in 2015-16 will be assessed by my Department to see if any are ready to go to construction earlier than planned, and if there is financial scope to do so.

Funding of over €60 million is also contained in the capital allocation for investment in the devolved additional accommodation scheme. This enables applications by schools for additional classrooms to be considered where an immediate enrolment need in the area is identified. As part of the prefab replacement initiative that I launched in 2012, I announced a further phase of prefab replacements in June 2013. The overall result of this initiative will be that a further 2,600 students in primary and second level schools around the country will move into permanent accommodation from prefabs in 2014. This second phase of the initiative will cost some €15 million.

Despite funding constraints, I was also pleased to reintroduce the summer works scheme in 2014. This funding package of over €40 million is being made as part of this Government's continued commitment to improve facilities in schools throughout the country. These works will be carried out in schools over the summer months, so the disruption to schooling will be kept to a minimum. Funding from the summer works scheme will allow schools to carry out small and medium scale building works such as gas, electrical and mechanical works, roof and window upgrades and other structural improvements. Primary schools are also benefiting in the 2013 and 2014 school year from the payment of the minor works grant. The €28 million made available to schools last November will enable such schools to undertake small scale repair works without the need to contact the Department.

I do not intend at this point to go into further detail regarding my Department's Estimate. l am happy, together with the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, to respond to any matters raised by committee members. I commend the Revised Estimate to the committee.