Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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41. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on the latest publication by the OECD which places Ireland at the bottom of a list of 36 OECD countries in terms of the amount of GDP being invested in education; his plans for improving this record; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45603/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The recent OECD Education at a Glance report examines indicators across OECD countries for inputs as well as outputs and outcomes relating to Education.

As one of the inputs to education, the report compares spend on education across countries as a percentage of their GDP and shows Ireland’s 2018 spending at 3.3% of GDP, below the OECD average of 4.9%. For Ireland however, comparing public spending against GNI* gives a better indication of the resources allocated as it adjusts for the impact of globalisation activities that disproportionately affect Irish economic aggregates. When expenditure on education is measured against GNI* expenditure on primary, secondary, further and higher education in Ireland in 2018 and 2019 was 5 percent, just above the OECD average.

This investment in our education system can be seen in Ireland’s strong performance across a range of indicators covered in the report looking at educational outputs and outcomes. Among the areas where Ireland is performing well compared to the other OECD countries are Irish students scoring amongst the highest in standardized reading tests (PISA) compared to other OECD countries and one of the highest shares of adults with tertiary education in the OECD.

This year, around €12 billion has been allocated to the Departments of Education and of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Skills for core expenditure, almost 16% of all core voted spending.