Minister Quinn protects education
Class sizes safeguarded and 1,400 new teachers for schools in 2014
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. has protected frontline education services and secured additional teachers and supports for special education in Budget 2014.
As well as maintaining the existing pupil-teacher ratios in free schools for the third successive year, an additional 1,400 teachers will be recruited in primary and post-primary schools in 2014. This will include providing more teachers to meet rising pupil numbers as well as additional Resource Teachers for children with special educational needs.
Spending on the DEIS scheme has been ring-fenced in this Budget, and there are no changes to either the overall staffing or funding of our disadvantaged schools.
The Minister has also protected the €1.3 billion available annually to provide supports for children with special educational needs.
The Department of Education and Skills is to receive €5 million from the proceeds of the National Lottery Licence transaction to allow primary schools to invest in book rental schemes to reduce the cost burden on parents with young children. This measure will deliver a €15 million investment to support the establishment of book rental schemes over the next three years in all primary schools that do not currently operate them. These schemes can result in savings of up to 80 per cent of the cost of school books for parents.
These funds will be paid to schools in the form of a seed capital grant, with DEIS schools receiving €150 per child and €100 per child in non-DEIS schools, to set up book rental schemes. The €15 million already provided to schools that currently operate these schemes will continue. This funding should be used to maintain an updated stock of school books.
Minister Quinn has also protected the maintenance grants awarded to qualifying students in third level institutions, with no changes to the student grant scheme as a result of the Budget.
And in a further measure to support young adults a minimum of 2,000 training places will be ring-fenced for under-25s at a cost of €6 million as part of a €46 million Youth Guarantee being implemented across Government Departments. These places will be provided under a follow-up to the successful Momentum programme that operated in 2013.
“As we come to the end of Ireland’s bailout, I firmly believe that protecting the education system is one of the best ways to invest in our economic recovery. Education is no different to other areas in needing to contribute to the stabilisation of the nation’s finances and this year, the Government is making it very clear that education is important to us” Minister Quinn said.
The DES current expenditure budget for 2014 is €8,219 million, including €362 million allocation for the National Training Fund.
In Budget 2014 the Department was required to secure savings of €44 million to meet the ceiling set in the Comprehensive Expenditure Review 2012-14. In addition, the Department faced continued liabilities due to the Redress Scheme (current estimate of €42 million for 2014), and a further €33 million is required to support the education of children with special educational needs in schools.
The Department has been able to identify sufficient expenditure savings to allow the Minister to protect frontline education services in this Budget, including protecting class sizes. Significant savings materialised recently particularly in relation to superannuation expenditure. This has reduced the amount the Department is required to find through policy measures to €33 million.
“Thankfully, the number of teachers who retired at the end of August was considerably lower than had been anticipated” Minister Quinn said. “This has allowed for a significant reduction in the estimated 2014 cost of the Department’s superannuation scheme, which funds lump sum and pension payments to teachers. This has helped to alleviate the impact of Budget 2014 on primary and post primary schools”.
Minister Quinn is satisfied that Higher Education Institutions have significant amounts of cash at their disposal with up to €450 million available to them. Last year the allocation to third-level institutions was reduced by €25 million to be restored in the current year. As a result of Budget 2014 these funds will not now be restored until 2015. The Higher Education Institutions are expected to continue to deliver the same level of services by more prudent management of their existing cash balances as they are doing at present.
In addition to the increased investment in staffing our schools, there are a number of other measures that also underline the Government’s determination to invest in our recovery.
Minister Quinn is committed to ensuring that every child leaves school with high levels of Literacy and Numeracy. To support this, almost €9 million has been included in the 2014 allocation to continue rolling out the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
Minister Quinn is implementing a major reform of the Junior Cycle. Some €1.5 million has already been spent on preparing for the introduction of the new English syllabus from September 2014 with a total of €4.8 million being provided in 2014. This investment will allow up to 7,000 school personnel, including principals and teachers of English in our schools, to receive training for the reformed Junior Cycle over the coming year.
The roll-out of high-speed broadband to all second-level schools is continuing. Some 478 schools will be fully connected by the end of this year, and the remaining 150 schools will be connected before the end of 2014. This is being provided to schools at no cost to them. It is funded by an investment of €40 million by the Department of Education and Skills, and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources between 2011 and 2015.
Budget 2014 - Main Features
ENDS