Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Harkin for bringing this Private Members' motion to the House today. I want to highlight the great work that has been done to campaign for adequate funding for primary education. The work by the primary school principal representatives is a great resource for all of us, as well as the constant work by the INTO in fighting for better funding and conditions for teachers and students. The motion reflects that work very well. There was a meeting in the audiovisual room last week. I am happy to support the motion.

I agree with Deputy Connolly. Listening to the Minister, there seems to be no problem in funding primary education. Are we living in two different worlds? Are the principals and the INTO making it up that there are issues? To me it is clear that there is a fundamental problem. We can drill down through every insufficient funding stream and grant. We can point to metrics for deciding funding like the principal release days which do not reflect reality. There is a clear overarching problem. We simply do not fund our primary education system enough to ensure an adequate learning or working environment for students or our primary school teachers and staff.

Work done by the primary school principals' representatives shows it has been 16 years since the banking collapse yet we still have primary school teachers and SEN teachers having to argue against austerity measures that have not been fully reversed. Our public services and many people's standard of living never really recovered from the austerity regime implemented by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Labour Party. That is reflected in the state of our primary school funding. We are last out of 36 developed countries on our per-student spending, at less than half of the OECD average. According to the INTO, we have the EU's largest class sizes. The 15% cut for special educational needs under the austerity regime has not been fully reversed. It is not hard to see where we are going wrong. The reality is that the Government is not funding our education system well enough for it to function properly.

A 2023 survey by the CPSMA found that seven out of ten primary schools have run at a deficit at some stage over the past 12 years and have had to rely on cash reserves to cover day-to-day costs due to insufficient core funding from the State. Schools reported that their heating costs have risen by an average of 37% over the course of the past two years. Electricity costs increased by an average of 35% and insurance costs by 19% on average during the same period. More than half of all the schools that responded said they had to raise funds to pay for basic utilities. A 2023 report commissioned by the CPSMA found that parental contributions were propping up the finances of the schools surveyed to the tune of €3.5 million, or an estimated €54 million nationally, money that was coming out of parents' pockets during the cost-of-living crisis. That is €54 million that should be provided by the State.

The starkest lack of funding is in special educational needs. The number of students with special educational needs increased by 56% between 2017 and 2021 yet austerity cuts still have not been fully reversed. SNA and SET allocations are frozen or cut and do not reflect demand. The 2024 allocation model was decided using data from 2016, despite current data being available. The primary principals are demanding to reinstate complex needs as a criterion to support early intervention, among other measures. I still have many parents coming to me who cannot get a school place for their child for next year. Services are dire. I sent this motion to a principal in my area who described the current funding model as the further marginalisation of our most vulnerable and a total dereliction of duty on the part of the Minister to provide even basic care for our children. I would have to agree with her.

I refer to the importance of school to children and young people, especially during a cost-of-living crisis. Schools provide a lifeline and respite for children living in deprivation and food or energy poverty. The Hunger in the Classroom study from last year found that 79% of teachers said they have hungry children in their classrooms every week. Some 40% said this happens every day and 73% said this problem is getting worse. I know there has been an intervention by the Minister in respect of school meals but it is not enough, according to this information.

The question now of children during the school holidays is an issue. During a cost-of-living crisis, with growing deprivation, people at risk of poverty and consistent poverty rates, the least the Government can do is provide a school environment which is properly resourced and funded. The fact that the Government continues to underfund our primary schools is a total dereliction of its duty to provide basic care for our children. I welcome that the Government is not opposing the motion but I am hoping that it will implement some of it.

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