Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton has said she makes “absolutely no apologies” for the additional €646 million funding her department required last year, as she announced details of the record education budget for 2027.
The Department of Education was allocated €14.4 billion in total for 2027, an increase of €712 million on last year when the supplement is included.
At a post-budget press briefing on Wednesday, Naughton was asked if she would apologise to her ministerial colleagues for the levy imposed on other departments to cover this supplementary funding.
“I make absolutely no apologies for fighting for €646 million earlier this year,” Naughton said, adding her department was “underfunded” last year and that her “priority was to reset the base”.
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“I am confident that the base has been reset, but I’m also conscious that we are a demand-led department,” she said, meaning they did not have control over school numbers.
One issue the Department of Education would be seeking cost savings on was the school transport scheme, examining whether existing local bus services could be used for school transport places, Naughton said.
On the issue of pending school closures due to teacher strikes, the Minister urged teachers’ unions to go into negotiations with the Government on a new public sector pay deal.
“Nobody wants to see disruption. Teachers, parents, nobody wants to see closures, so I’d encourage everyone to sit around the table to try and come to some deal as soon as possible,” Naughton said.
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Almost all primary and secondary schools are due to close on October 14th and 21st as unions escalate their dispute over a new national pay deal.
Details of how the €14.4 billion would be spent were outlined by the department on Wednesday.
Among the key measures was an extra €17 million for capitation funding in schools, which covers utility bills, maintenance and insurance costs.
That equates to an increase of €68 per pupil at primary level, and an increase of €40 per pupil at post-primary level.
Some €21 million has been set aside for curriculum development across senior cycle, primary and Gaeltacht education.
An additional €6 million will go into the DEIS Plus programme, allowing for the expansion of the funding scheme for the most disadvantaged schools in the country.
A further €9 million will go towards more Home School Community Liason teaching posts.
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In terms of special educational needs, there is funding in this budget for 1,353 more special education teachers and 2,339 additional special needs assistants.
There will also be €6 million allocated to the expansion of special education training for teachers, including the roll-out of a new inclusive education accredited course, which will be paid for by the State.
This course will cover numeracy, literacy and other elements of special education teaching, including dyslexia.
There will also be an €11 million allocation to fund school leadership support, increasing the numbers of deputy principals in primary and post-primary schools.
