Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday's budget was the first of this new Government and it demonstrates clearly our commitment to and our support for schools, and especially our students. With this significant new investment, we will continue to improve the experience of our children in education and provide improved practical supports in light of Covid-19. I am particularly pleased to announce that I have secured funding in the budget to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio and class sizes. More teachers and special needs assistants will be recruited and additional funding has also been allocated to schools to meet costs relating to Covid. This includes funding for day-to-day running costs, as well as significant capital investment for our school building programme. Through this budget, we will continue to improve the experience of our children in schools and provide improved practical supports, particularly in light of the Covid pandemic. Building on the initiatives set out in the programme for Government, the budget for the Department of Education and Skills will be €8.9 billion in 2021, which is an increase of €410 million, or 5%, on 2020.

The budget provides for a variety of measures. The employment of an additional 1,065 mainstream and special education needs teachers will benefit our primary, post-primary and special schools and will allow for a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio and class sizes in our primary schools. Smaller class sizes are an important support for teaching and learning in our classrooms. I have also secured funding to allow for schools at risk of losing a teacher to retain that teacher by reducing the threshold for the retention of teaching posts. Almost 1,000 additional special needs assistants, who as we all know play a vital role in meeting the care needs of students in classrooms across the country every day, will be hired. The school inclusion model pilot will be rolled out to two further community healthcare organisation, CHO, areas. This will result in additional education psychologists and therapeutic supports including speech and language therapists and occupational therapists being made available to more schools. That project is being advanced by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan.

An additional €226 million in financial supports, to be provided to schools in the first half of 2021, will meet costs relating to Covid-19. This allocation is the balance of the €437 million package approved by the Government in July as part of the roadmap to reopening our schools. As with other Covid-19-related spending, funding for the academic year 2021-22 will be reviewed in line with the latest public health advice at a particular time.

A central contingency reserve is being allocated by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in the 2021 budget, which includes funds earmarked for schools for the remainder of 2021, from late August to December 2021. I assure all Deputies present that my Department will continue to provide funding to allow schools to stay open and meet the ongoing challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. I recognise the wonderful work that school communities have done to ensure the safe reopening of our schools, and to sustain that reopening. The Government will continue to play its role in ensuring that this important work continues.

Further supports are being provided as part of the DEIS programme to those schools catering for the highest concentration of educational disadvantage. This will be supported by additional funding of €2 million in 2021 and €5 million in the full year, and it will include a one point reduction in the senior schools urban band 1 staffing schedule.

Additional funding for significant expansion of the arts and education programme is also included. There is also a capital allocation for new and more energy-efficient school buildings, with a €740 million allocation for 2021 under Project Ireland 2040. This funding will sustain the roll-out of projects, including those currently on-site, and those due to commence construction activity.

I have secured an additional capital allocation of €80 million for the school capital programme in the current year, 2020. The additional €80 million will allow for the ICT grant and the minor works grant at primary school level to be paid out in late 2020 rather than 2021.

I clearly have some key objectives to achieve in my opening budget as Minister for Education and Skills. I wanted to ensure that sufficient funding would be available to the Department to meet existing funding requirements but I also wanted to secure continued funding for schools for Covid-19. Equally, I wanted to secure an adequate capital allocation to support and sustain our ambitious school-building programme. I was also anxious to begin to implement the provisions of the programme for Government, especially relating to class sizes, special needs education and social inclusion. With the budget announced yesterday, we have made some positive progress in achieving some of these objectives.

As my home county, Kerry, has a significant tourism sector, I want to reference some initiatives in the budget relating to tourism development, specifically the €55 million business continuity support for strategic tourism businesses. This, combined with the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, introduced by the Minister for Finance, will help to sustain many businesses through the pandemic. In addition, the reduction of VAT for the sector to 9% will improve competitiveness and viability for businesses. Other welcome supports include the rates waiver extension and the extension of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS.

I am pleased with the €102 million in targeted supports for livestock farming. This includes €85 million to support sustainable beef farming and €17 million for sheep welfare. Some €80 million is being provided for the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme. I welcome the allocation of €341 million for rural and community development.

Budget 2021 has a number of health measures in place. I welcome the addition of 16,000 posts in the health workforce. There is €38 million for mental health services, which is important. There will be an additional 5 million hours of home supports and an additional €100 million for provision of services and supports for those with disabilities, an important sector.

I welcome the €3.3 billion investment in housing, which will facilitate the single biggest social housing build, of 9,500 homes, targeted acquisitions of 800 units, and long-term leasing of 2,450 homes. Measures include €110 million for a new affordable purchase scheme and accelerated delivery of the cost rental scheme via approved housing bodies. There is €50 million for the serviced sites scheme, making thousands of homes more affordable. Overall, 6,200 affordable homes will be delivered with supports from this scheme. I acknowledge the €60 million being made available to fund adaptation grants to support older people and people with a disability to remain at home. This is an important source of funding delivered through our local authorities. Small sums of money can make a substantial difference in the quality of people's lives.

I appreciate that I have limited time and thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to refer to some aspects of the current budget.

See this speech in context