Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 297: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department intends to increase the investment in second level education here; if her attention has been drawn to the recent OECD report which shows that Ireland is almost at the bottom of the international league in terms of investment in second level education relative to the country's economic wealth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30301/06]

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she will take to ensure that resourcing of second level schools is increased in the context of the forthcoming estimates and Budget to at least the average OECD levels; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30416/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 297 and 304 together.

I assume the Deputies are referring to Ireland's expenditure on education as a proportion of GDP. Deputies will be aware, given the distinctive structure of the Irish economy and specifically, the comparatively high proportion of our GDP that is expatriated as profits of foreign direct investment enterprises, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not a good indicator of the relative resources available in the case of Ireland. For example, the difference in magnitude between Ireland's GDP and Gross National Income (GNI) was 18% in 2003. This means that standardised expenditure data for Ireland would be higher if GNI (or GNP) were used instead of GDP. For most OECD countries, however, the difference between GDP and GNI is negligible and the vast majority of other countries are quite happy to continue using GDP to standardise international data on expenditure. Department of Education and Science expenditure on education in Ireland in 2003, the reference year used in the latest 'Education at a Glance' report, represented 4.9% of Gross National Income. This increased to 5.2% in 2005.

The Deputy should also note that spending by my Department on second level education increased by 17% between 2003 and 2005. In 2005, €2.7 billion was spent on second level education — up from €2.3 billion in 2003 and €1.25 billion in 1997.

These increases have allowed for major progress to be made both in the staffing and in the day-to-day funding of our schools.

With regard to staffing, it should be noted that there is now one teacher for every 13 students at second level.

Day-to-day funding for our schools has also increased significantly in recent years. Since the financial year referred to in the OECD report — 2003 — second level schools have benefited from substantial increases in funding. The standard capitation grant of €266 per pupil in 2003 has stood at €298 per pupil from 1 January last. In addition, the support services grant for secondary schools was increased from €127 per pupil in 2003 to €159 per pupil from January last. This per capita grant is in addition to a range of equalisation grants of up to some €15,500 per school per annum that were also approved for voluntary secondary schools.

This Government has dramatically increased investment in education in recent years. However, it is simplistic to just say that increasing spending will result in better outcomes as evidenced by the relatively poor educational outcomes of some high-spending countries. What we all wish to see is the resources targeted towards education being used to best advantage at all levels.