Ms Bernie McNally:

I thank the Chair and committee members for the invitation to discuss our appropriation account and some particular topics the committee has chosen.

Although the Chair introduced the officials, I will give their names again and their areas of responsibility in order that members will be clear on that. At assistant secretary general level, Mr. Hubert Loftus is head of the planning and building unit. Ms Martina Mannion is head of the special education and National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, division. Mr. Dalton Tattan covers curriculum, assessment and teacher professional learning. Ms Aoife Conduit covers school transport and redress. Mr. Gavan O’Leary is from our corporate services and finance unit. At principal officer level, Mr. Tom Whelan is head of the finance unit.

We provided briefing material in advance. I hope this has been of some assistance. As the committee is aware, the Department of Education is responsible for funding, policy development and oversight to support the provision of education in schools. The Department’s net expenditure in 2022 was €9.77 billion. Net pay and superannuation accounted for around 77% of the Department’s overall budget in 2022. This provided for approximately 143,000 teachers, special needs assistants and other staff. Other expenditure included grants to schools, including capitation payments; costs associated with teacher education; the provision of school transport; and a significant capital building programme. The capital programme comprised approximately €1.1 billion, representing 11% of the gross expenditure of the Department. The overall expenditure for the year also included costs arising due to Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and cost-of-living increases in schools.

Due to pressure on expenditure in 2022, it was necessary to seek a gross Supplementary Estimate of €925 million. Of this, €200 million was for retrospective public sector pay deals agreed during 2022 as part of the extension of the Building Momentum pay deal. A further €400 million was approved for costs relating to Covid-19 support, the war in Ukraine and cost-of-living supports. The statement of internal financial control that forms part of the appropriation account provides details regarding the control systems in place. It also notes details of instances of non-compliance with public procurement rules. The Department fulfils a significant operational role nationally. For example, it is responsible for the largest payroll in the country. Some instances of non-compliant procurement arose for reasons such as urgency, the need for business continuity and initial assessments made that certain services only had a sole supplier. The Department is actively engaged with the procurement reform programme and is taking the opportunity to use centralised contracts and frameworks wherever possible. The Department has also increased its staffing resource in relation to procurement guidance and monitoring to improve compliance.

The committee has been provided with briefing on the capital programme of the Department. The demographic trends in relation to the number of children enrolling in schools and expected to enrol are changing. Many school planning areas continue to see growth in demand. The Department is taking every opportunity to continually improve and strengthen its forward planning through better data gathering, sharing and analytics and collaboration with other agencies and sectors. Delivery of the school building programme is a priority for the Department. We have strong track record of delivery, with all available investment being used annually.

As well as significant national demographic trends, the Department is conscious of significant regional and local variations in demographics, which have implications for demand for school places in a given area. Migration patterns can add to this complexity. The successful enrolment of more than 18,200 pupils from Ukraine was a significant feature across the sector in 2022 and right up to date. This represents an enrolment rate of approximately 94% of the Ukrainian school-age children who have come to Ireland, one of the highest enrolment rates across Europe.

More than 163,500 children travel on school transport services every week. This number covers in excess of 136,000 pupils on mainstream services, more than 20,000 pupils on the special educational scheme and 7,600 pupils from Ukraine. As the committee knows, the service is managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. It cost approximately €340 million in 2022. As members will be aware, the Minister recently published a report entitled School Transport Scheme 2030. This was the largest review of school transport since its establishment in the 1960s. The report recommends the expansion of access to the scheme, with a view to providing transport services to an additional 100,000 pupils by 2030.

Over €2.7 billion of the Department’s budget is invested in special educational needs. A significant amount has been achieved in recent years. For example, we currently have more than 2900 special classes across the country, which is a sixfold increase from 514 in 2011. By the end of this year, an additional 11 special schools will have been introduced since 2020. However, there is still a significant amount to be done and the Department is working intensively to ensure that all children with special educational needs can access high-quality and inclusive education in their locality.

The committee has listed other areas of interest it would like addressed at this meeting and we have included updated information on each in the briefing provided to it in advance. My colleagues and I will be happy to take any further questions on these matters. I thank the Cathaoirleach and members of the committee.