Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First of all, no school should be in that position. I do not believe there was a necessity to write that letter to the parents at that time, to be frank about it. I have a long-time involvement in education. I have a lot of experience with the education world. In the past, any time a school was in difficulty, dialogue opened up with the Department and the Department always came in to help, particularly if a school was in extremis or in difficulty. My understanding is that the Department engaged with Sacred Heart school in December. The Department sought information but did not get any response in terms of the information provision. The Department will continue to engage. The Department was unaware of any letter being sent out to the parents at the time. I would say to schools generally that if they are in really dire circumstances, where they feel the necessity to write to the parents, they should contact the Department.

The capitation grant has increased significantly over the last two years, in particular three years. With the cost-of-living increases, there were very substantial allocations, as well as during Covid-19, in particular, way above the norm.

If we look at the investment in education over the past four years, it has been huge on the current and capital sides and on special education. The DEIS programme was widened and expanded very significantly. It was the largest expansion of DEIS ever, with consequential improved funding, provision of teaching posts and so on. That said, we acknowledge that there have been inflationary pressures on schools because of the crisis that was occasioned by the energy crisis resulting from the Ukraine war and the post-Covid issue in terms of inflation. The Minister and the Department will work with schools that are in difficulty. We will also continue to improve the capitation rates that are paid to schools. There have been other supports as well in terms of other positions within primary schools, specific supports around technology and so forth. Suffice it to say that by any yardstick, the investment in education has increased very significantly in the past number of years, notwithstanding all the pressures people are facing, which I acknowledge.

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