Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For anyone watching yesterday hoping that education would finally have the level of investment needed to adequately address and tackle the years of underfunding, "disappointment" goes nowhere near describing what they have expressed to me. There is frustration and outright bewilderment that, when the State’s coffers are flush with funds, the level of investment in education remains well below our European neighbours. Substantial progress could have been achieved by continuing to reduce class sizes and substantially increasing the capitation grant. More than12% of children in this country are in classes of 30 pupils or more and 83% of our classes are larger than the EU average of 20 pupils.

With an overall budget of €20 billion, the allocation of new measures is just €56 million. If the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, threw in the towel on health, the Minister for Education seems determined to match him, with new measures costing less than 1% of stand-still costs. Of the €900 million in the budget that is additional to capital committed to in the national development plan, not one euro went to education, despite other Departments struggling to spend their capital budgets. I was struck, and perhaps the Minister could explain why a Fianna Fáil Minister is ignoring the budget asks of Fianna Fáil Ministers. Housing, health and education all appear to be starved of funding by one of their own.

The education budget is a litany of missed opportunities. The extension of the schoolbook grant to post-primary junior cycle students is welcome but it needs to be clearly explained to parents and guardians of senior cycle students why their costs are ignored in the budget. A far more equitable way was proposed by Sinn Féin - to begin funding post-primary books at first and fifth years, which recognises and starts to address the most expensive years of both cycles. Fifth, sixth and first years are incredibly expensive years for parents. Senior cycle deserves to be supported too.

It is disappointing to see no additional funding made available for guidance counsellors in Government budgets. Guidance counsellors do so much more than help with future career plans. They often support students at vulnerable times and contribute to personal, social and academic well-being. They are a vital cog in many school communities, yet there is nothing for them.

The funding for school transport seems to mean nothing to the majority of parents whose children again this year were left without a seat on the bus while that review is pending. The Minister said at the press conference this morning that it was near completion, but near completion does not equate to seats on a bus. These parents remain as frustrated today as yesterday. Additional funding for grants that seem to mask years of inefficiency and failures in the school transport system does nothing to deal with the cause or to suggest where potential solutions might lie. There is still no clarity or certainty about the future of the school bus scheme.

Another missed opportunity by Government is the failure to include and acknowledge the importance of the ICT grant. That funding has not been made available to schools since 2021. It is said every year that budgets are about choices. Government Members made the choice not to address this but no doubt will make the choice to address it and clap themselves on the back when the funding due for this year is finally paid in January.

School libraries funding is another missed opportunity. More than 6% of Irish university graduates struggle with literacy. Our younger children are doing well but we need to embed that in children’s lives. An investment in libraries pays dividends over lifetimes.

It beggars belief that when schools tell me they are on the brink of financial collapse, an additional €7 million in capitation is the length the Government is willing to go to support them. This is where the anger kicks in because the result of this will be very clear. The Government is forcing schools into continual reliance on parents and guardians for voluntary contributions and fundraising. Government Members talk of the cost-of-living measures for families, yet they are under-resourcing those families’ children’s schools and putting the responsibility on the families to help bridge the ever-increasing costs schools have in keeping the lights on and the rooms warm. For some bizarre reason, at the Minister’s press conference this morning, the conversation wandered into energy credits for families. Is that where the funding will go? The continual expectation on schools to do more with less is not good enough. Education was significantly underfunded yesterday and remains so today. Families are significantly under pressure every year and will remain so next year.

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