Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to inform the House that I have secured a budget of almost €12 billion, which is a 9% increase on the funding achieved in budget 2024. There is an increase of €712 million in core current funding and an increase of more than €360 million in core capital funding compared with the original national development plan allocation for 2024. These are the headline figures but my focus in budget 2025 is very much on what it means for school staff, parents and families.

I meet parents the length and breadth of the country and I know how stressful, challenging and difficult it can be for them. One parent recently told me they felt like they were on a hamster wheel and I really do get that. In budget 2025 I am announcing that the free book scheme will cover all students, from primary school right through to the completion of the leaving certificate examinations. This will alleviate the financial pressure on parents of 940,000 students. It is important to acknowledge and thank our school leaders and school staff for their work and commitment in implementing the free schoolbooks scheme this year and for all they do in so many ways for the young people in their care in the world of education. With regard to the schoolbooks scheme, the Department of Education will allocate an administration support grant to primary, special and post-primary schools in the 2025-26 school year, based on the size of the school, to assist with the additional work required.

I know that finding special education school places can be an enormous stress for parents also. In the budget we will hire another 1,600 special needs assistants and 768 additional special educational needs teachers. This will open up 2,700 school places next year for children with additional educational needs. I acknowledge there have been delays in finding places for some children with additional educational needs this year. I welcome the fact the National Council for Special Education has confirmed to me it has 24 places available for the 16 children still in need of them and that the issues regarding the need for school places will be resolved in the coming days.

Since becoming the Minister for Education more than four and a half years ago I have prioritised the summer provision programme and I am pleased to confirm the budget provides more than €65 million in permanent funding for the summer programme for children with special educational needs and students at risk of educational disadvantage. I am also pleased to confirm we have had a 20% increase in the number of schools offering the summer programme this year. This permanent funding will allow us to continue to cater for the continued growth of the summer programme.

I know that mobile phones in schools are an issue of enormous concern to parents and I will provide funding to secondary schools to procure mobile phone pouches or other storage solutions in order that students get a mental break from their phones during the school day. I have heard some Deputies criticise the €9 million allocation for this scheme as a waste of money but I have made this decision based on international research, which has highlighted the negatives of having mobile phones available in the classroom and in school grounds.

Last year a report by UNESCO, the UN's education agency, recommended that smartphones be banned from schools to improve learning and to tackle classroom disruption and cyberbullying. UNESCO cites evidence that removing smartphones from schools in Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom improved learning outcomes. It noted that having a mobile phone nearby with notifications coming through is enough to result in students losing their attention from the task at hand. One study found that once distracted, it takes students up to 20 minutes to refocus on what they were learning. I believe this new scheme will support positive well-being among all our pupils. It will help them to learn in their classrooms, make friends and engage with one another without the distractions that can arise from mobile phones.

I know too that many parents feel under pressure to support their schools with voluntary contributions.

That is why I am increasing the State funding for primary and secondary schools, known as capitation grants, by 12%. That is in addition to the 9% increase in capitation last year. This will improve the funding that schools have available to them to cover their costs. We are also going to provide €45 million for schools from the cost-of-living package to help with their day-to-day running costs, such as heating, insurance and electricity. We are also going to ensure that our schools continue to have a supply of excellent teachers, with budget initiatives such as the new bursary for science, technology engineering and mathematics, STEM, teachers. This will provide student teachers in third or fourth year of STEM undergraduate initial training education qualifications with a €2,000 payment each year for the final two years of their programme. There is a clawback provision: any student teacher getting the payment will be required to undertake in writing to refund the payment in the event of their not completing a minimum of two years consecutive service in schools. Up to 800 student teachers are expected to be eligible for the bursary from the 2025 to 2026 academic year.

I also know the importance of providing career progression for our existing teachers. That is why I am announcing that there will be 1,000 additional school posts of responsibility. We will also have free upskilling courses for staff, and funding for the new primary curriculum and senior cycle reform. We have a significant package in the budget to tackle educational disadvantage, with more education supports available for children who are at risk of leaving school early. We will also commence the roll-out of the Traveller and Roma education strategy, which I was pleased to launch recently.

I am including two other significant measures in the budget to help parents with the cost of living. I am going to continue to exempt junior cycle and leaving certificate students from the usual examination fees, and I am going to keep reduced school transport scheme fees in place for families, which will remain at €50 for a primary school student, €75 for a post-primary student and €125 for a family ticket. I am also keen to progress the recommendations in the latest review of the school transport scheme, and provision has been made for that.

Finally, I will draw Members' attention to the capital budget for school buildings, which is increasing by more than €360 million to €1.3 billion next year. This will allow us to progress more than 350 school building projects, which are already under way, and bring another 200 school building projects to construction. Overall, the education budget is worth almost €12 billion, which is the single highest amount ever. It will help reduce costs for parents and families as well as continue to improve our vital education system.

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