Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank members of the select sub-committee for this opportunity to discuss my Department’s requirement for a Supplementary Estimate of €103 million for 2014. As stated by the Chairman, a briefing in this regard has been circulated to members, and I therefore propose to keep this opening statement brief.

The Supplementary Estimate sought will increase my Department’s overall net Voted allocation from €7,848.5 billion to €7,951.5 billion. The additional funding requirement is in respect of current expenditure only. There are three main factors behind the requirement for the supplementary amount of €103 million that is now being sought. First, a sum of €77 million, or three quarters of the total supplementary amount sought, is required to facilitate a technical accounting adjustment between the 2013 and 2014 financial years. The briefing material provided shows that certain salary and pension payments made at the very end of 2013, and originally recorded as expenditure incurred in that year, should have been recorded as expenditure incurred in 2014. This is because the payments in question were not actually available to staff and pensioners until early January 2014. This issue was raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his examination of my Department’s 2013 accounts. The result of that examination was that my Department’s recorded expenditure for 2013 was reduced by €77 million, with a consequent requirement to provide for this expenditure in 2014 by way of a Supplementary Estimate. I would again, however, make clear the technical nature of this request – the net effect of the adjustment over 2013 and 2014 expenditure is zero.

Second, a sum of €25 million is needed to cover a projected net excess of current expenditure compared to the original allocation. A major factor behind this requirement is the fact that the projected number of retirements across the education sector this year will be higher than that allowed for within the funding allocation provided. While an estimated 2,200 retirements were planned for in 2014, the actual number of retirements is now likely to be over 2,650. The additional funding is required to meet the lump-sum and pension costs of the additional retirees. My Department has no control over this element of expenditure.

Third, a further €1 million is required to cover the cost of the 25% Christmas bonus announced by the Minister for Social Protection in budget 2015. The €1 million will cover the cost of paying the bonus to some 18,000 participants on vocational training opportunities scheme, VTOS, courses and other education and training board, ETB, programmes, which fall under my Department’s remit.

I am also proposing, in line with normal practice, to offset current expenditure savings emerging on some subheads against excesses emerging on other subheads. In these cases, there is no net effect on funding. Similarly, I am proposing to reallocate funding for capital expenditure across subheads by allocating savings on schools capital expenditure to the subhead for expenditure in higher education, mainly to fund expenditure on the DIT Grangegorman site and on St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.

I trust that colleagues will not mind if I use this opportunity to update the sub-committee on plans to introduce necessary reform of the junior cycle and the strike action on which both second level teacher unions have embarked. As members will know, in recent weeks I have made a very significant move in a genuine effort to reach agreement with both unions. That move has been welcomed by the National Parents' Council Post Primary, the Irish Second-Level Students' Union, a range of management bodies, the education and training boards and employer representatives. I appreciate this broad support from education partners. I also thank various committee members for their supportive comments. It is deeply disappointing that, in response to this generous and significant proposal, the response of both the ASTI and the TUI has been to embark on strike action. The main point at issue at this stage is school-based assessment. School-based assessment is an important element of reform. Teachers already engage in school-based assessment. They correct homework and award marks for examinations set in the summer and at Christmas. Perhaps most importantly, the vital advice and guidance given at parent-teacher meetings is largely based on the teacher’s assessment of a student.

The new framework for reform will give teachers an input into the formal junior cycle examination process through assessment. Under the current system, this professional teaching judgment and experience is excluded from formal junior certificate assessment. This needs to change. I am proposing that it contribute to 40% of a student’s marks. The remaining 60% will be awarded through an externally assessed final year exam. It is on this point in particular that both teaching unions have decided to strike, closing schools and inconveniencing students and their families.

I have said that my door is open for talks. I have also made it clear that for those talks to be meaningful I need to see movement from the unions on the issue of school-based assessment. A negotiation needs movement from both sides.

It is now a week since the ASTI and the TUI took to the picket line. They will be meeting again this week and they plan another one-day stoppage in January. In an effort to avert industrial action and restart talks I will now ask Dr. Pauric Travers, who chaired talks between both sides in November, to consult with myself, my officials and both teacher unions to see if the conditions for meaningful talks exist. Dr. Travers's role in the previous talks was appreciated by both sides and I would like to publicly thank him for the time he is investing in this process. My departmental officials will also be meeting with parents’ representatives, the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union and other partners to brief them on the current state of play.

My position is that agreement on junior cycle reform can and will be reached. I would again ask the ASTI and TUI to respond to my initial proposal, as another round of strikes and disruption will serve no interest. I felt it would be appropriate to announce at the committee meeting rather than outside the House that I have asked Dr. Travers to get involved. I am happy to respond to any questions.