Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a bheith anseo. I will focus almost exclusively on the education side of the budget today. Before I do, there are three quick comments I want to make. First, I received hugely positive feedback from postmasters around the country last night and this morning on the measures in the budget to support our rural post offices in remote, isolated, rural areas or in smaller villages and towns around Ireland. It is a hugely positive step and has been very much welcomed by the postmasters of Ireland.

An dara rud ná an méadú sa mhaoiniú atá ar fáil don Ghaeilge mar theanga. Tá sé sin thar a bheith dearfach. Tá go leor le déanamh againn maidir leis an teanga ach, ag an am céanna, tá mé an-sásta leis an méadú a chonaiceamar inné maidir leis an nGaeilge.

Third, as has been mentioned, the €117 million in additional funding for local government is hugely positive. It sends out the signal that if people want to be a county or city councillor in Ireland and want to get involved at local government level, like I was for almost six years, there is funding there to give them a meaningful role and to make sure they are in charge of a budget that really looks after local people in local communities around this country. I welcome that. We have a huge amount of work to do to give the relevant powers back to councillors at local area and to trust them with roles at local government level, but yesterday was a huge step in the right direction. It is a huge increase, and I really welcome it.

Going back to education, I will go through some of the highlights I found from yesterday's budget that I, as a former teacher, or someone who worked in the education sector for nearly 14 years in some capacity or other, really welcome. There are a lot. There is room for improvement and constructive follow-on work in the years to come, but for the next 12 months there is a huge amount that I welcome, particularly the 1,717 extra SNAs we have funded. That is hugely positive. I really welcome it. It is a step in the right direction. It does not fully solve the problem. Particularly, I would like to see more funding into the training and the on-site work experience that people in ECCE courses get when they are in college in order that they see the SNA role as something to move on to and to aspire to. There is work to do, but it is hugely welcome. I think the unions have welcomed it as well.

One of the stand-out measures in yesterday's budget - and we were all lobbied, I presume, by the INTO at different stages over the past few months - is the €50 increase in the capitation grant. It does not fully solve the problem. At €274 per pupil, it does not fully bridge the gap, but it is a massive step in the right direction. It is one of the biggest increases I have ever seen in a single year and it has to be welcomed. While the INTO always will do what is best for students and strive to make sure that that is at the optimum level, €274 has to be welcomed in some capacity, and there is positivity towards that.Again, I was lobbied at length by the TUI and ASTI. Both bodies nominated me for the Seanad. They pushed for the capitation grant. An increase of €20 is probably not enough but it is a step in the right direction. We have more to do.

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, bringing in €16 million extra funding for therapies on site in special schools is really important. When I was a teacher I saw the implications for a child when he or she was taken out of his or her normal routine and sent anything between 30 km and 50 km to the nearest centre to receive special needs therapies. Having therapies on site will be a game-changer for some of those people. It is really important that we roll out that service aggressively in the years to come and expand it into special needs classes at mainstream level. The measure is a really good step in the right direction.

The Minister of State mentioned inclusive public services. Yesterday, we saw 860 additional teachers in the special education setting. It is a huge step in the right direction and, again, hugely welcomed by the unions. I spoke to representatives of both unions last night and this morning and they hugely welcomed the development. We must now have more inclusive options for students with special needs in mainstream education and I will give two examples that are a niche core issue right now. Some children with special needs can find it very hard to access the subjects of art and music at second level. We need more teachers for those subjects so that children with special needs can strive to be students in those classrooms and ensure there is no barrier ever for disabilities. We could work on that. Again, there will be another 860 additional teachers in special education settings. We cannot complain too much about that. It is a really good step in the right direction.

On higher education, the Minister, Deputy Lawless, put a really good stamp on yesterday's budget with a 17% reduction in apprenticeship contributions. That is a really positive step. It shows that the Minister is attuned to the issues we have with the shortage of apprentices and is trying to make this country more attractive for apprentices. As I have said ad nauseamboth in this Chamber and when attending committees, there seems to have been an obsession in this country with attaining a level 8 degree. We need to ensure that apprenticeships are seen as just another normal thing to do or a really good thing to aspire to. We need really high quality craft apprenticeships and other apprenticeships all around the country. I attended the expo that took place in the RDS three weeks ago and it was an unbelievable day. It just shows the range of apprenticeships that are out there and that I was not even fully sure existed. There are so many apprenticeships and a 17% reduction in apprenticeship contributions is really positive.

On the €500 reduction in the student contribution fee, I heard the back and forth yesterday both in the media and in the Chamber that it is not a reduction but an increase. It is not. For the first time in years a Minister has said to parents that they have certainly next August that they do not face a potential fee or charge of €3,000 but rather a charge of €2,500, that we understand they are under pressure and that we are permanently reducing the stresses they face by €500. That, in my opinion, is hugely positive. Yes, the cost could be lowered more but parents have been crying out for certainty and now they have it, which I welcome.

Another example that the Government has listened and learned is the €1 million for student mental health. The Government understands that there is a huge need for investment in a broad range of areas that affect students in Ireland. Again, I really welcome the allocation.

The allocation of €3 million for disability supports at third level is a massive investment and is really positive. There is an awful lot we could do better and we will go into it at committee meetings and in this Chamber when we have the relevant Ministers in, but yesterday we got it right in a lot of cases. I really welcome an awful lot of those measures that I have just gone through. The Minister of State has done a really good job, along with the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. I can stand over an awful lot of what was in the budget yesterday. There is a lot more to do but we have done an awful lot of good with yesterday's budget.