I appreciate where the Deputy is coming from. I have met with many of these principals and heard what they have to say. I acknowledge, as we all do, that DEIS has a very significant and positive impact on our schools. We see the benefit of it but we also know two things; there are children who are at risk of educational disadvantage who are attending schools that are not DEIS schools, and there are children attending DEIS schools that are looking for models, as outlined by the Deputy, such as a DEIS plus. To suppor…

There is not much the Deputy is saying that I disagree with. I have acknowledged the need for it. I have met with many of the principals who have presented their experience to me. It is important if we are to make any changes, amendments or additions to DEIS, that we have an overall look at DEIS, how it is working, where it is working well and where there are opportunities to do things differently. If I did not do that, it would also be a dereliction. We have a scheme, at a cost of more than €180 million, that we k…

I am very pleased to have secured €10.5 billion in total funding for the education budget of 2024. This significant increase in funding ensures that the total budget is at the highest ever for our primary and post-primary schools. The funding will ensure continued reduced costs for families, it will continue to tackle disadvantage, and it will provide further supports to safeguard inclusive education for all school communities. This year’s budget will provide targeted funding for school communities with an increase…

I once again confirm for the Deputy's information that it is a budget of €10.5 billion and €81 million is being expended on capitation, €21 million of which is in the core as a permanent measure that will support a permanent restoration of funding for all primary and post-primary schools from September 2024. The additional €60 million investment is a cost-of-living investment. By "permanent measure", we now mean that the basic rate at primary schools will be €200 and €345 at post-primary level. However, there will …

In the first instance, €81 million is a significant uplift to schools, €21 million of which is a permanent measure. It is interesting to note that the Deputy's own party was offering something around €40 million in terms of capitation-----

We have actually more than doubled that-----

Sinn Féin offered €40 million-----

-----we have offered €81 million to the schools and that is a significant provision for schools, because €21 million of it will ensure there will be support and it will bring it up to a permanent restoration of funding for all primary and post-primary schools from September 2024. The Deputy referenced schools that have particular issues around disadvantage. More than €180 million is being made available through the DEIS programme to our schools and one in four of our students are benefitting from the DEIS supports …

Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have qualified, engaged teachers available to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government. Budget 2024 contains a range of measures that demonstrate the commitment to continued investment in our education system. In addition to numerous actions taken in recent years to address teacher supply, a number of specific, targeted measures will be introduced with the new funding provided in budget 2024. These inclu…

I acknowledge the Deputy's proactive engagement in this space. We recognise that we are at near full employment and that there are challenges within the education sector, similar to challenges we have in the hospitality or business sector - you name the sector and there are challenges. I acknowledge that should not in any way diminish the particular challenges that a principal might have and face at a given time in terms of teacher availability. It is more acute in some areas than in others. Specifically regarding …

There are a number of routes into teaching as the Deputy is aware. Recognising the issue around the PME route and the expense of it, I have already outlined the €2,000 support there. I want to acknowledge the 3,500 teachers graduating every year. It is very significant. I have also increased the number of places on the initial teacher education programmes by more than 600 over two years. There were 2,700 student teachers last year who registered with the Teaching Council. We have never had such a high level of regi…

The school transport scheme is a significant operation, as the Deputy is aware. It is managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2022-23 school year more than 149,000 children, including more than 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were provided in the 2022-23 school year for more than 5,400 children who arrived to Ireland from Ukraine. The total cost of the s…

I and every Member of the House, particularly Deputies from rural constituencies, appreciate the importance of the school transport system. It is for this reason that the system is underpinned by significant funding, with almost €339 million expended last year. An additional €50 million has been provided this year to ensure greater access and to allow children to avail of school transport. This is increased investment due in the main to the cost of contractors to cater for the increase in pupil numbers projected in…

To be clear, there are eligibility criteria. Pupils who live 3.2 km from their nearest primary school or 4.8 km from their nearest or next nearest post-primary school are eligible. In relation to one child getting a ticket and the other sibling not getting one, if both children are eligible, both will get a ticket. However, if they are not eligible, concessionary tickets are provided by lottery under the present system. A considerable body of work has been undertaken in relation to the review. This is a demand-led …

I confirm to the Deputy that an application for major capital funding has been received from the school in question. There are significant demand pressures on the school system at present arising from demographic growth, the need to align school place provision with housing developments, increased demand for special educational needs provision and the accommodation of children from Ukraine. Under Project Ireland 2040, in excess of €5 billion will be invested in school infrastructure during the period 2021 to 2025. …

I appreciate the Deputy’s advocacy for the school. The Department has made an offer to the school in respect of a special education teaching room. We await the school’s engagement on that. For any issues that might be regarded as an emergency and for some of the issues the Deputy mentioned, there is a very clear pathway to make emergency funding made readily available to schools if there is a need. I do not want there to be any doubt about that. As I said, we keep everything under review in the context of the capit…

The Deputy has highlighted a short-term and a long-term vision for the school. I restate that if there is any issue with safety that is causing difficulty in the school, the way forward is through the emergency works scheme, which will be made available to the school to meet its needs. Provision is being made for special education teaching, which is positive. We have an ambitious building programme, with over 300 school buildings at different stages of development. The programme is kept under constant review. I spo…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I know it is an area on which he has advocated very strongly. I am very pleased that the counselling pilot has been well received. The Department of Education is committed to supporting the emotional well-being of our children and I am pleased to provide an update on the significant progress that has been made on strands 1 and 2 of the pilot in almost 650 primary schools across the country. I am also pleased to announce that the Department has secured additional funding in budge…

We are all aware that this initiative will be of enormous benefit and support to our primary schools and their staff who do tremendous work every day. We know there is a growing need in the area of well-being. I am pleased that we have secured additional funding in budget 2024 to ensure the scheme can run longer than was envisaged originally. Two different schemes will run. Counsellors will be available to schools, as I already outlined, and, in the second strand, education well-being teams and practitioners will b…

Regarding NEPS, I want to be 100% clear. There is no cut - absolutely none - in the NEPS funding made available this year. What has happened, which was clarified, is that the heading under which payments such as salaries, etc., for NEPS are made has been moved to a different subhead. There has been no cut whatsoever in NEPS funding. I welcome the very positive endorsement many Members have given to the roll-out of this programme. There has also been a very positive endorsement from schools. Reference was made to pl…