Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy O'Flynn for his question. As the budget approaches, many sectors in society will be anxious to ensure their sector gets taken care of in the budget. As I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, the Government has a limited cake and that amount has to be spread out equitably across the different sectors. Regarding school funding and capitation, since 2020 schools have benefited from significant increases in capitation funding, additional teaching and SNA posts and enhanced school leadership supports. I know the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is doing her best to ensure the capitation improvement will increase. The Minister is doing a review of costs in schools to see whether we can bring them down. It is important to point out that a huge amount has been done to date and over previous budgets. Budget 2025 delivered a permanent €30 million increase in capitation funding, which was a 12% rise on current standard and enhanced rates. That was on top of the 9.2% increase secured the previous year and the Minister is anxious to see that further supports are provided in this budget. From this September, this has brought capitation to €224 per primary pupil, as the Deputy said. Of course, there are secondary pupils as well. The capitation is €386 per post-primary student, with enhanced rates for pupils with special education needs and Traveller pupils. Schools received a €45 million cost-of-living payment in November 2024 to tackle rising energy and day-to-day running costs. The Department of education works very closely with schools that are in financial difficulty. If a school is in financial difficulty, it should contact the Department of education. The financial support services unit within the Department will play a critical role in guiding schools through any financial difficulties. We have to take into account that the Government has in recent years provided free schoolbooks for children in primary schools and, indeed, in secondary schools now. That has been an extraordinary game-changer, if I can use a word that has been used with some frequency recently.

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