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

It beggars belief that at a time when schools and school leaders are pleading for additional resources but are still reliant on voluntary contributions from parents, this Government chooses to allocate €9 million to phone pouches. It is despicable that the Government then attempts to hide behind the cloak of mental health to justify its decision, particularly when we look at its track record in failing to deliver for mental health.

When the Government took office in 2020, there were just over 2,000 children waiting on first-time appointments in CAMHS. That figure now stands at more than 3,500, an increase of 74%. When the Government took office, there were more than 220 children left waiting more than a year for a CAMHS appointment. The number now stands at more than 500, an increase of 126%. In 2020, more than 9,500 children were waiting on psychological appointments. In 2024, the number is more than 18,000 children. A European study identified Ireland as the hardest country in the EU to receive mental health treatment.

Primary and post-primary schools have been underfunded for years. Seven out of ten schools ran a deficit at some stage in the past 12 months. Heating costs are up by more than 37%. Electricity costs are up by 35%. Insurance costs are up by 19%. There were cuts to the primary school book grant scheme and the summer programme for capitation for mainstream schools. The school grants calendar changes like the weather.

This spend is indefensible and it must be reversed immediately. This money could be better invested in capitation, DEIS supports, ICT, minor works, ancillary services, and special educational needs. The list goes on and on. These were the issues parents and school leaders were extremely vocal about, yet the Government has chosen to ignore them. In response to criticism, the Government then said it was another one-off measure. The Minister should stop for one minute and think of the good this money could do if it were invested in NEPS, for example, and the positive long-term impact it would have on students and their educational outcomes.

It is hard to keep track of the chronic waste of money, not just by this Government but by successive governments over the years, from bike sheds to security huts, iodine tablets, ghost airports, millennium clocks, e-voting machines, etc. Then we have the overspends. We have the most expensive hospital in the world, modular housing, and the flood defence system in Athlone, which now stands at more than €27.5 million and is not due to be completed until next year. They are in the past. This allocation is not. This is one that can and must be undone.

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