Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for bringing forward the Revised Estimate. As in any year, there were elements of the budget that I was pleased with and others I was disappointed with. The issue of free school books is something that Sinn Féin has been speaking about for almost ten years now. The move in this regard is very welcome. It is vital that schools get information or a payment schedule for what is proposed as soon as possible. While the measures to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio did not quite go as far as we wished, the progress is welcome.

There are some specific points I want to raise. I do not need responses to them because there are a few other issues I also wish to raise. Schools have been in contact with me. They understand that the Covid cleaning grant is to be extended for term 2 and they are anxious to get a payment schedule for that. In addition, an issue that comes up annually is the physical posting of payslips to teachers and retired teachers. It is a significant cost that is scarcely justifiable in this day and age.

There is a fair bit in the revised Estimates about the National Council for Special Education and the provision of additional funding for that. Obviously, that is very welcome. It is an organisation that is quite thin on the ground in large parts of the country. There are vacancies for special education needs organisers, SENOs, that need to be dealt with. Time will tell the value of that additional resource.

One of the key areas in special education is the summer provision programme. The Department has sought to expand the programme in recent years. I put it to the Minister that the recent decisions that have been taken in the context of running teacher training courses over the summer could potentially disincentivise teachers from participating in the summer programme. This is a short-sighted approach that does not take into account the caring responsibilities that many teachers have, and the fact that they seek to balance those with training during the summer months. Not only will it affect goodwill, it also has the potential to have an impact with regard to the number of people who may participate in the summer programme. I have two more questions, but I ask the Minister to respond briefly before I ask them.