Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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270. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional teachers required to reduce pupil to teacher ratio in Irish universities to 1:20. [3754/25]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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272. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional teachers required to reduce the pupil to teacher ratio in Irish Universities to 1:20. [3852/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 272 together.

The information requested by the Deputy is not currently available. The latest figure on the ratio of students to teaching staff in higher education published by the OECD indicates a ratio of 23:1. However this data is from 2021, and staffing levels in the higher education sector have been increased significantly in the intervening years.

Funding the Future, published in May 2022 identified €307m as the increase needed in core higher education funding. Since then, the Government has secured an additional €164.4m in Exchequer and employer funding with a commitment to deliver a further €100m by 2030 from the National Training Fund. This additional core funding is to be directed towards priorities that have been communicated to the sector, which include the recruitment of additional staff to enhance academic tutoring, engagement and support services for students. As well as contributing to an enhanced student experience, this will lower the staff to student ratio and help to bring Ireland closer to international norms in this area.

A significant uplift in the ceiling of core staff has been approved for the sector aligned with the additional funding provided under recent Budgets. Since 2020, the ceiling has increased by over 4,300 posts, bringing the total approved ceiling for core-funded posts in higher education to over 23,800 for 2025. This includes an uplift of 715 posts in respect of the Budget 2025 investment.