Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her response to the finding of the OECD that spending on education here has been falling as a percentage of GDP and is well below the OECD average; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27653/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The recent OECD report examines changes in expenditure since the mid-1990s. It shows that public expenditure on education, here, has increased substantially between 1995 and 2002 at all levels even when allowing for inflation. For example the same OECD report shows that total spending increased by 56% here compared to 28% on average across the OECD. Between 1997 and 2005, the overall budget for education has more than doubled, from €3.2 billion in 1997, to €7.1 billion in 2005. At the same time, there was a dramatic and unprecedented increase in national output, especially as measured by GDP. As repatriated corporate profits of foreign multi-nationals accounts for a significant proportion of GDP, it is not a good measure of the amount of money available to the Government for investment in public services. However, public expenditure on education has increased substantially in absolute terms in recent years.