Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. It is raised very much in my engagement with parents as I go around the country and on the occasions on which I knock on doors. The cost of education can be an enormous burden on families. Often, these are the same families who bear the high costs of childcare, school transport and, in some cases, rising rents or a large mortgage.

Increasing capitation grants for next year is, of course, a budgetary matter. No budget decisions have been made as yet but I know it is a priority that Fianna Fáil has raised in negotiations with us on the budget. In the letter I wrote to the Deputy last month suggesting that we continue the confidence and supply arrangement through to 2020, I specifically listed this matter as one that should be included as part of a future arrangement, should Fianna Fáil choose to continue the confidence and supply agreement through to the summer of 2020, as I proposed. It is also included in the programme for Government.

It is always necessary to prioritise. We have a budget of €10 billion this year for education. It is the largest budget for education in the history of the State. That is making a difference. It means we have hired 5,000 more teachers in the past two years. It means we are building new schools all over the country and extending schools. It means we are developing technological universities, in Dublin and hopefully soon in the south east. It means we have more special needs assistants than we ever had in our education service. It means the pupil-teacher ratio this September is the lowest ever for children attending primary school. Therefore, we can see how the massive investment in education is making a real difference for children, their teachers and families.

I acknowledge that, because we had to focus on other areas, we have not been able to increase capitation. It is under consideration for this budget but Deputies should bear in mind that there are always competing priorities. Even the wealthiest countries have limited budgets and we have to prioritise within them.

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