Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. This is the crux of the matter every year, with school transport and everything else.

One of the main groups I met last week was the Irish Primary Principals Network. It set out a synopsis of the solutions. Its first request is to increase admin time for teaching principals, stating:

Burnout and Job Fatigue: Due to the dual responsibilities of teaching and administration, many Teaching Principals experience significant job stress and fatigue. The lack of adequate support staff exacerbates these issues, leading to high levels of burnout. High numbers stepping down from the role.

The second request is to increase primary school funding:

Align primary education funding (currently at 13% in Ireland) with the OECD average, increasing expenditure per student to at least 27% of per capita GDP. Establish a consistent funding schedule to aid in school budget planning.

Provide additional financial support on a permanent footing, to cover rising costs of utilities, insurance, and other operational expenses, reducing the need for schools to engage in extensive fundraising. Align primary capitation in parity with second level pupils. Ensure that smaller schools are not disadvantaged by per capita allocations.

The third request is an "Urgent Call to address Chronic Under Resourcing of Special Education Needs ... Supports and Provisions":

Increasing Demand: The number of children with special needs in primary schools increased by 56% between 2017 and 2021.

Families face significant challenges in finding the appropriate placements. Inadequate Resource Allocation: Special Needs Assistants ... and Special Education Teacher ... allocations have been frozen or cut. Allocations do not match the level of need presenting in our schools.

The 2011 austerity measures reduced SEN resources by 15%, and these cuts have not been fully reversed.

Chronic Teacher supply crisis at present in Primary Education — SEN pupils most adversely affected.

It mentioned the flawed allocation model. The 2024 allocation model uses outdated data from 2016 which ignores the current needs. The model relies on enrolment numbers, literacy and numeracy scores and educational disadvantage metrics but lacks the individual profiling. Current and accurate data can easily be gathered from the schools via the primary online database or annual census returns.

The recommendations were to increase the funding to reverse the austerity cuts, enhance the professional support for testing and diagnosis, simplify and improve the appeals process for additional resources, develop a strategic plan to improve SEN provision over the next three years and address the chronic teacher-supply shortage that is plaguing the system with an action plan.

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