Funding for Education: Motion [Private Members]

Deputy Joan Burton

I move:

“That Dáil Éireann:

welcomes:

— the allocation of sufficient resources to meet demographic growth in our school system, including the allocation of additional special needs assistants and resource teachers;

— the funding of agreements reached with trade unions regarding pay levels for new entrant teachers, and full resourcing of the reform of the junior cycle; and

— the commitment contained in the programme for Government to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools;

notes:

— the failure to take any action in budget 2017 to continue the reduction in primary school class sizes that began in budget 2016;

— the lack of any measures in budget 2017 to begin reducing school costs for parents and, in particular, the absence of any improvement to school funding, which the Department of Education and Skills has described as ‘a critical issue’;

— that official costings provided in advance of budget 2017 estimate the cost of maintaining existing levels of funding per student in third level at €21 million in 2017; that the Department of Education and Skills has identified a requirement of at least €10 million each year to fund the development of technological universities; and that the cost of increasing the number of apprentices in budget 2016 amounted to €10 million;

— that the funding of €35 million provided for investment in further and higher education in budget 2017 will not even cover the items listed above, let alone the determination of the Minister for Education and Skills to fund targeted initiatives to provide skills, additional research funding and to support disadvantaged students; and

— that a minimal increase of 0.1% to the national training fund levy would have raised €67.1 million in 2017 which could have been used to fund such developments; and

calls on the Government to:

— immediately commit to a one-point reduction to the staffing schedule of primary schools which controls average class sizes for the coming school year;

— publish a roadmap to outline how we can reach an average class size of no more than 20 within the lifetime of this Government;

— commit to multi-annual increases to school capitation rates, sufficient to end the practice of requesting voluntary contributions from parents;

— provide the full €21 million funding required to meet demographic growth in third level, and to direct additional resources at improving the staff-student ratios in third level and reducing the student contribution; and

— guarantee the funding required to fully roll out all new apprenticeships which will provide a wider range of opportunities for young people and, in particular, young women.

I wish to share my time with Deputies Willie Penrose and Brendan Ryan.

The failures and omissions in this year's budget are really quite startling. The failure to reduce class sizes, particularly for younger children, is difficult to understand, as is the failure to improve capitation payments for hard-pressed school budgets which would ease the pressure on parents for voluntary contributions and the failure to improve resources for simple schemes like book rental schemes in primary and secondary schools. It is very difficult to understand why these particulars were not addressed in the context of the amount of money that was available to spend. These issues are very well known not just to parents at school gates, but also to teachers, boards of management and everyone else involved in education.

As we face into the perils of Brexit, the greatest challenge this country has faced since the collapse of the banks and the construction industry, the lack of a detailed focus on education in budget 2017 is startling and disappointing. Regarding third level education, Deputy Micheál Martin frequently set out his stall and called for €100 million but what we saw in the budget was €35 million rather thinly spread. That €35 million in funding for investment in further and higher education in budget 2017 will not remotely cover the cost of a lot of the items on Fianna Fáil's shopping list, let alone match the determination of the Minister for Education and Skills, as expressed in quite a number of speeches, to develop targeted initiatives to enhance skills, provide additional research funding and support disadvantaged students.

Official costings released in advance of the budget estimate that the cost of maintaining existing levels of funding for students in third level is €21 million in 2017. The Department also identified a requirement for at least €10 million each year to fund the development of technological universities, although I note that the Minister seems to have sent that off to a review or discussion group, sine die. In fact, if Deputy Micheál Martin waits long enough into the new year, his record for producing reports and reviews will be surpassed in one year by this Government, judging by the number referred to in the budget and accompanying documentation. The Department of Education and Skills also identified a requirement for at least €10 million to increase the number of apprentices. I note that while there has been a very welcome increase in the number of apprentices since the previous Fine Gael -Labour Party Government re-launched apprenticeships in 2014 and 2015, the number of female apprentices is disappointingly small.

Education is a great liberating force in Irish society. That is why, as a society, we value education and why each generation and each Dáil seeks to improve on what went before. Opportunities afforded by a good education, starting at preschool, enable the whole person, from childhood to old age, to be the best that he or she can be. Education enables people of modest backgrounds to achieve so that progress and achievement is not simply confined to those who have inherited wealth or position from family. Since the 19th century, the importance of education has been a defining value in Irish society.

Good teachers are a critical feature of a progressive education system. It is through their experience that we as politicians get to know more about what helps children, as well as through talking to parents. We learn, through our teachers and the work that they do, what we need to do as a Dáil to support and develop a system in which children, teenagers and adults can do best and thrive. When the Labour Party drew up its plans for improvements, chief among them was a reduction in class sizes. Our plan also included improvements to the capitation grant which would reduce the cost of running schools and to schemes such as the book rental scheme. Such measures would actually help schools.

We are also seeing increasingly diverse school communities in my own constituency and right across the country. There are lots of students of international origin in our schools. In some cases, the children were born in Ireland but their parents came to this country from abroad. This has given rise to serious issues in the area of language skills, for example.

As I said earlier, when the great recession happened, apprenticeships collapsed. My party colleagues Deputy Jan O'Sullivan and former Deputy Ruairí Quinn, spent a lot of time in Government trying to revive apprenticeships, which was done from 2014 onwards. However, the slow progress in this area that has been made by the current Government is astonishing. There is no sense of ambition or of an understanding of the opportunities that good apprenticeships can provide. Qualified apprentices can subsequently go on to pursue an academic path or can start their own businesses and many of us would have family members who have done just that. This Government, locked as it is in perpetual discussion and division, seems unable to focus, which has resulted in a fatally flawed education budget for 2017.

There are some very welcome measures in the budget, particularly the provision of additional teachers and resources to meet population or demographic pressures. However, when it comes to the practical issues, who wants a class of junior infants, senior infants or first class of 30? Remember, these are children who have moved from preschool, where class sizes are a fraction of that number. Yet we are expecting schools to adapt to class sizes which are, according to the OECD, among the highest in Europe.

All of us here know personally, through work experiences or through family and friends, that access to good education, where opportunity is identified and ambition is encouraged, is critical to everybody's development. Perhaps that does not apply if one happens to have been born into a very wealthy family.

Unfortunately, the budget introduced by the Government recently, following a number of very difficult years after the collapse of the banks and the construction industry and 300,000 people losing their jobs, lacks any sense of vision or ambition. Now that this country has started to grow again, we are facing into the difficulties of Brexit. There was no sense in the recent budget of extra opportunities being created. Will the Minister of State with responsibility for apprenticeships explain why women are being left out of apprenticeships? A small sum of money would have funded a programme to identify specific apprenticeship opportunities for women, but such a programme is just not there. In this regard, as in many aspects of the budget, there is a lack of breakthrough vision for the future, rather than the past.

Deputy Willie Penrose

I am glad to have an opportunity to contribute to the debate on this important motion. I urge people to support the motion which has been placed before the Dáil by the Labour Party. I am deeply indebted to our education system for the education I received in my formative years at Ballynacargy national school and at Coláiste Mhuire in Mullingar, which is an excellent Christian Brothers school. These schools had an important impact on me. I have always acknowledged the importance of providing adequate, vital and necessary resources to cater for a young school-going population that is set to grow for a number of years to come. This growth will present challenges in terms of the provision of adequate accommodation, teacher training places and, ultimately, vital third level provision.

The critical nature of the issue of class size and the pupil-teacher ratio cannot be overestimated. The Labour Party fundamentally believes in making classes smaller. This is a vital tool in tackling disadvantage. Our primary school classes are, on average, three or four pupils larger than our European counterparts. It was for this reason my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, commenced the process of reducing class sizes as Minister for Education and Skills last year even though she did not have a great deal of finance to play with. This move was widely welcomed and lauded. We anticipated, wrongly as it transpired, that this policy would be continued in the 2017 budget. It was deeply surprising that nothing was provided for a reduction in class sizes in the recent budget.

We know what it means to have children packed into overcrowded classrooms, especially at a young age. In our alternative budget, we provided for a reduction of one pupil in the pupil-teacher ratio. It would cost just €6 million, which is not an earth-shattering sum, to reduce the ratio in line with our proposal. I would say this cost could be met by taking money from the additional tax, above what was estimated, that will come in from self-employed people over the next month. We remain committed to focusing on this important parameter. We concur with the INTO's perceptive analysis of this fundamental failure in the budget. It has indicated that every week, more than 100,000 children are going into super-sized classes of 30 or more pupils. That is a severe indictment of our failure as a society and as a country to give the issue of class size the priority status it deserves. It is the Labour Party's view that class sizes should be reduced continually over time, with an ambition of reaching an average class size of 20 within five years or so. This would end the spectre of overcrowded classes forever.

The cost of education that is borne by many parents is a big issue for many people. Barnardos and other organisations regularly prepare comprehensive and detailed reports on the various aspects of this matter. The cost of schoolbooks, for example, is quite significant. During its period in government, the Labour Party provided an additional €15 million in ring-fenced funding for schools towards the establishment of book rental schemes to reduce costs for parents. This scheme succeeded in reducing such costs by approximately 80%. We expanded the school meals programme significantly and took steps to enable parents to be consulted about the uniform policies of the various schools. We proposed to increase the capitation grant funding to schools by €10 per child in 2017, at a cost of just under €10 million. We committed to increasing that sum to €20 per child in the case of any school that agreed in writing to put an end to the practice of requesting voluntary contributions from parents. The imposition of such charges can be a severe load for people to carry. A new three-year book rental scheme, at a cost of €5 million per year, must be established to give funding to second level schools to set up book rental schemes and thereby help to reduce book costs for students. As I have said, such costs can be quite significant, particularly at second level.

The spectre of the failure of the budget to increase child benefit has had an impact. Child benefit was most important in our house when I was growing up. It helped my late mother to defray the costs associated with education. This is a fundamental issue.

My colleagues will deal with the issue of apprenticeships. There is huge potential to make significant progress in this area. My colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, recognised that last year when she was involved as Minister in a fundamental review of the apprenticeship system. A number of new types of apprenticeships came on stream as a result of this initiative. It is clear that apprenticeships can create new and varied career paths for young people. We should widen them. It is disappointing that this has not been done. Approximately 350 apprenticeships are available in Germany. By contrast, we have taken a conservative approach. There is no better man than the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, whom I salute, to grab the opportunity to increase the number of apprenticeships available here to 350. He will leave a lasting imprint if he does that. It will be the equivalent of delivering for Waterford again. I advise him to ignore the conservative views. I know that bureaucrats are always conservative. I ask the Minister of State to give them a shake-up. There is an opportunity to increase the number of young people getting apprenticeships. This would open up career paths, especially for women, as Deputy Burton has said. As my colleagues have set out, the Government's objective of having an expanded apprenticeship programme will not get out of the traps in the absence of a proper basis for funding such a programme. As our motion points out, "a minimal increase of 0.1% to the national training fund levy would have raised €67.1 million in 2017". It is clear that such moneys could be used to fund some of the important and worthwhile initiatives I have mentioned. We are not just proposing a motion; we are telling the Government how to get the money to fund important and vital initiatives.

Deputy Brendan Ryan

The Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education has found that our third level sector badly needs a long-term funding strategy. It has stated that the sector needs additional investment of approximately €1 billion by 2030 and that we need to start taking steps immediately to address that need. Unfortunately, the Government has kicked the expert group's report to touch. We propose to take immediate steps in the right direction to address this funding deficit.

In this motion, we propose to increase the national training fund levy on employers by a mere 0.1% and to legislate to allow the proceeds of the national training fund to be used to pay for higher education. We have already drafted the necessary legislation for this measure which would raise €67.1 million in 2017 alone. Although the measure we are proposing is modest, the sum of money it would raise is not. It would see employers pay a slightly higher contribution towards the cost of third level, which is something that has been recognised as necessary by IBEC and other employer bodies. There should be little resistance to this proposal. We feel it is a no-brainer.

The additional money that would accrue from this measure could be used for three purposes. First, it could be used to increase funding to the third level sector in line with demographic growth, thereby ensuring class sizes do not get larger as student numbers increase. Second, funding of €10 million could be ring-fenced for the development of technological universities in Dublin, Munster, the south east and Connacht-Ulster. To date, such funding has been top-sliced from the funding available for all colleges. We believe a dedicated funding stream is needed. Third, a fund of €30 million could be set aside to be invested in minor capital works and equipment across our third level colleges. These proposals would not fix all the problems in the third level sector, but they would represent an important start.

We also need to work to redress the imbalance in staffing levels within our third level sector. Teaching staff and, perhaps in a less visible manner, support services in non-academic grades are under intense pressure. We need to start on a path which will see our third level sector invested with sufficient funding and sufficient workers. As we all know, college gives young people incredible and sometimes life-changing opportunities. No young person should miss out on such opportunities because of an inability to pay.

As well as asking companies to pay a little more towards the costs of third level education, we think that as the economy improves, it is time for the State to bear a greater share of these costs. The financial struggles of young people are not confined to their entry to college. They are week-to-week concerns for many students and families as they try to get by. Students can struggle with financial hardship throughout their college years for a variety of reasons. Students with disabilities often have unexpected costs that other students do not have to face. We need to increase funding to colleges to meet the requirements of demographic growth - this has been costed at €21 million - and to ensure funding is available to the student assistance fund and the fund for students with disabilities.

When in government we expanded apprenticeships beyond the focus solely on construction-related trades and developed 21st-century apprenticeships in 25 new areas, including catering, financial services and information and communications technology. This has allowed many women to participate in apprenticeships to a significant degree for the first time. However, as Deputy Burton has stated, a great deal more remains to be done in this area.

We are keen to guarantee the funding required to fully roll out all apprenticeships for all our young people, especially our young women. We believe the number of places in the highly successful JobsPlus programme should be increased by 2,000 to help more young people secure employment. We proposed a €10 increase in jobseeker's payments to those under 25 years of age, along with an increase of the back-to-education allowance for young people to €188 per week. Combined with our proposals to reintroduce postgraduate grants, these proposals will provide over 10,000 young people with high-quality opportunities to prepare for sustainable employment.

Our motion is only a first step. However, if implemented, it would be a confident first step towards improving our education system.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills (Deputy John Halligan)

I move amendment No. 4:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“welcomes:

- the commitments in the Programme for Government and in the Confidence and Supply Arrangement for a Fine Gael-led Government in the education area, including reducing class sizes, reintroducing guidance counselling for secondary schools and increasing financial supports for postgraduate students with particular focus on those from low income households;

- the commitments and allocations of resources in Budget 2017, including:

- an additional allocation of €458 million, a five per cent increase in 2017, resulting in an overall budget of €9.53 billion, the third highest in the history of the Department of Education and Skills;

- the recruitment of 2,400 additional teachers and 115 additional special needs assistants in 2017;

- the allocation of two thirds of the guidance resources that were previously cut, separately and transparently outside the quota on the staffing schedule;

- the reintroduction of the full maintenance grant from September 2017 for 1,100 postgraduate students from the lowest income category; and

- the allocation of an additional €36.5 million for higher education in 2017 as part of a broader multi-annual package; and

- the Government’s restatement of its commitment to delivering on all the elements of the Programme for Government and Confidence and Supply Arrangement for a Fine Gael-led Government in the education area over the lifetime of the Government."

First of all I wish to comment on apprenticeships briefly. A total of €20 million has been made available in the budget for apprenticeships from the national training fund. The programme for Government commits to 50,000 new apprenticeships up to 2020. SOLAS and the Apprenticeship Council are preparing a detailed plan over a period of three years which will include what my colleagues in the Labour Party have said in respect of women in apprenticeships and so on. While that plan is under way, any information that Deputies need I will make available. That is going to happen, I guarantee Members that much.

The central ambition of the Government is to sustain economic progress and make ours a fairer and more compassionate society. We all believe in that, irrespective of where we come from or what part of the House. Essentially, all Deputies believe in that much. Investment in high-quality education and training is critical to achieving these goals. The programme for Government states: "Education is the key to giving every child an equal opportunity in life." We are keen to support our teachers and institutions to continually improve. Building better links between education and the broader community, including the enterprise sector, is vital.

Last week's budget was a first step in delivering the resources we need to progressively deliver on the action plan. The Department's budget will increase by €458 million compared to the 2016 allocation, which represents a 5% increase. Overall, the Department will have a budget of over €9.5 billion, the third largest allocation after the allocations for the Departments of Social Protection and Health. This will allow us to invest in measures throughout the education and training system which will drive reform, improve outcomes for new learners, tackle disadvantage and enhance quality.

A wide range of measures across the education and training system will be implemented as a result of the funding announced in the 2017 budget. The increased allocation will allow us to employ 2,400 additional teachers as well as over 100 special needs assistants. It gives us the resources to implement agreements reached with teacher unions, including an allocation of €130 million to implement the Lansdowne Road agreement. We will also implement the recent agreement reached with the TUI and INTO on salary increases for new-entrant teachers. We are willing to conclude a similar agreement to benefit newly-qualified ASTI teachers within the Lansdowne Road agreement. In that context I am keen to say that I have no wish to see any teacher taking industrial action. Everyone has a right to do so and I understand the frustration that exists. However, I echo the calls of the Minister for Education and Skills for ASTI to engage in constructive dialogue and see it as the only means to resolve the issues that concern ASTI members. That needs to be done and I hope it will be done.

Next year will see the first phase of the new investment in our higher education system. This will be critical to Ireland's economic development. As a result of the budget, over the next three years an additional €160 million will be invested in higher education. For the first time in recent years specific additional funding is being allocated for 2017 and beyond to cover the impact of increasing enrolments in higher education. Building on this, the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will also be undertaking a review and consultation on the new employer-Exchequer investment mechanism to support multi-annual funding in the higher and further education sectors. This will complement the important work of the Oireachtas joint committee in examining the Cassells report on future funding of higher education. Funding will be provided to implement the new international education strategy, which is intended to increase the economic value of the sector by €500 million per year and attract in the region of 37,000 additional students by 2020.

The budgetary allocation in my area of ministerial responsibility will provide for increased demand for traditional apprenticeships as well as the roll-out of apprenticeships in new economic sectors. I spoke earlier on this point. In the coming months I will make all the information available that Members need on our plan for apprenticeships up to 2020.

The Springboard initiative has been maintained and new funding is being made available for flexible learning and skills development in higher education. This will be of significant benefit to employers and learners. Research investments are important as well in producing the highly-educated workforce that we need to grow the economy and contribute to society. Additional funding will allow the commencement of a frontier research programme and a new initiative to attract leading researchers. Over 3,000 students will benefit from measures to support more disadvantaged students to attend higher education. The measures will include the introduction of a full maintenance grant from September 2017 for over 1,000 postgraduate students in the lowest income category.

The budget will fund the implementation of the action plan on educational inclusion, which will be launched later in the year by the Minister, Deputy Bruton. The plan will include additional measures in areas like school leadership, teaching methods and clusters to improve the outcomes for students in the relevant schools.

Following development and piloting over recent years, a new model for allocation of teaching resources for children with special educational needs will be implemented from September 2017. An additional €18 million will be provided in 2017 to provide for approximately 900 resource teacher posts. Further details regarding implementation of the new model will be announced in the coming months.

The budget continues the process of restoring guidance to schools. The equivalent of 100 additional guidance posts will be provided in September 2017. These will be allocated separately, transparently and outside of the quota in respect of the schedule of posts.

We recognise that school leadership is vital in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive, accountable and focused on high-quality teaching and learning. The budget will allow us to give greater support to schools in this area, including additional deputy principal posts for larger second level schools and middle management posts for primary and post-primary schools. We will be providing funding to support ongoing curriculum reform. This will include provision for individual professional time for teachers of the junior cycle and will involve 550 additional teaching posts. We will also be supporting reforms in several leaving certificate subjects, including economics, politics and society and physical education.

The Department's capital allocation next year will be €690 million. In the school sector this will support the creation of up to an additional 20,000 permanent school places in 2017. It is expected that up to 50 large-scale projects will reach substantial completion next year. Overall, the budget will allow us to make significant progress across a range of important areas within the education and training system and this will ultimately benefit learners.

I wish to take issue with the observations in the Labour Party motion to the effect that we will not be able to deliver on the commitments laid out in our budget day announcements.

Some of the figures they have published are incorrect. For example, the cost of keeping pace with demographic growth in the higher education sector is €14 million, meaning that with the remaining €22.5 million we will be able to deliver on all the initiatives we have set out, including over 3,000 students who will benefit from an additional package of €8.5 million to support more disadvantaged students, including lone parents and Travellers, to attend higher level. This includes the introduction of a full maintenance grant, worth almost €6,000 from September 2017 for 1,100 postgraduate students in the lowest income category. There will be new targeted initiatives to provide skills, additional flexible learning places, funding to commence a new frontiers research programme and a new initiative to attract world-leading researchers in the context of Brexit.

For the first time in recent years, specific additional funding is being allocated for 2017, 2018 and 2019 to cover the impact of the increasing enrolments. Funding for 2017 will support 179,000 full-time enrolments. There will be provision for expansion in apprenticeships and to implement the new international education strategy, increase the value of the sector by €500 million per year and attract 37,000 additional students by 2020. On top of this initial three-year funding commitment, the Government will work on putting in place a new comprehensive and ambitious multi-year funding package for the sector from 2018. As part of this, the Department will undertake a review and consultation with the aim of developing a multiannual funding model for higher and further education and training. We have been very clear that the commitments we have set out in the action plan, reflecting the programme for Government and the confidence and supply agreement, including the commitments for further reductions in class sizes, will be progressively implemented over the coming years as resources allow.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

If Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin is present, I will yield five minutes of my time to her.

Tá má sásta seasamh anseo agus labhairt ar son na scoileanna, na hollscoileanna agus córas oideachais na tíre seo. Níl aon dabht ach go bhfuil ganntanais móra sa chóras sin. Tá a lán ag teastáil ó dhaoine. Tá tuilleadh múinteoirí, áiseanna agus scoileanna ag teastáil. Níl aon dabht ach go bhfuil tuilleadh pá ag teastáil ó mhúinteoirí. Tá a lán dúshlán againn sa chóras seo. Caithfimid obair le chéile ar son an chóras oideachais, ar son na mic léinn agus ar son na múinteoirí. We recognise that some progress has been made in this budget and on some key educational priorities of our party which we insisted on as part of the confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael. We enabled this progress to happen by taking our own leadership responsibilities seriously, by recognising that my party leader did not have enough votes to become Taoiseach and acknowledging that somebody else did but in that engagement we made sure that the policies we prioritised would be implemented. Some of those policies have been listed by Members here. It would have been very easy for us to say we did not want anything to do with it but we took the responsible course that will see some of those policies delivered.

Despite the Labour Party having been in office for the past five years, some really unfair decisions were taken on education, several of which members of the party had to fight against in order to protect the education system. We recall Pat Rabbitte hosting a large meeting of the Labour Parliamentary Party to reverse savage cuts that former Minister Ruairí Quinn proposed. Several shortsighted cuts have impacted heavily on students and teachers, particularly students from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as the cuts to special needs assistants, SNAs, and resource teaching and the savage cut in guidance counselling. I do not know who thought that one up. I am proud to say several Fianna Fáil Ministers have pushed forward guidance counselling over 40 years, starting with Paddy Hillery. I am glad that our party has been instrumental in bringing back the ex quota system of guidance counselling because never has it been more necessary not simply for career guidance, but also for mental health. On the one hand, the Government is developing mental health strategies for second level schools, referring to guidance counsellors, and, on the other, guidance counsellors are being taken away from schools. We have to get this job right.

We also see in the confidence and supply agreement the start of the rowing back on the other disgraceful cut removing postgraduate student grants. Students on the lowest income will receive them as they start college next year. That is very welcome. If we want to have a knowledge economy and a society that values learning, we must allow every section of society to engage in postgraduate education. The numbers entering postgraduate education since that cut dropped by 5%. That has had a devastating effect not just on the poorest families, but also society as a whole because we value learning and continuous learning.

We welcome the increase in teacher numbers but that is simply to keep pace with demographics. It had to happen and the money has been found for it, but it has not led to a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio. That is one of the conditions in the confidence and supply arrangement whereby we sit back at budget time, for the election of a Taoiseach and in confidence votes, but we need to get our policies implemented. We look forward to more progress on the pupil-teacher ratio. We will highlight it over the coming year as the debate on the next budget starts earlier than ever before through the committee system, and will look for it to be prioritised and to make sure the money is available to make the classes smaller, particularly for the youngest age group. Some students at third level are in classes of more than 500. They can cope with that, although it is not entirely satisfactory, but class sizes at primary level of up to 40 pupils and more in some cases are not acceptable. We have to work to ensure that those very small children have the best possible learning opportunity.

I will not dwell on the Labour Party tactic in the last Government because it did not work too well but it eroded many remarkable advances in education. Some of the worst decisions of that five years were not simply in terms of cuts, but were a clear policy direction. Several schemes to tackle educational disadvantage and access were abolished. Ruairí Quinn effectively abolished postgraduate grants in 2012, except in one category, which was inconsistent with all the talk about a high-skill smart economy. It was devastatingly regressive. It compounded inequality by creating an advantage for families that could afford it. That was not what I expected from the Labour Party and it is not what we want from society. I am glad we have got that changed.

In 2011, guidance counselling became part of the staffing schedule and its ex quota aspect was removed. In schools with a better socio-economic background that did not make a difference but other schools noticed a difference and many students were left out and did not get the guidance they needed. Somebody was not there for them in a time of need or, in fact, if somebody was there for them, that person had to come out of the history or English class where they had been redeployed to give that guidance. That is what was happening over recent years. Our party is very happy to see that guidance counselling is now ex quota so that a guidance counsellor will not be in an English class when a crisis arises. That is a significant achievement. It took a lot of talking with the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, to remind him of what was in the confidence and supply agreement but that job has been done.

The Labour Party lost many votes because of what it did and did not do in respect of higher education. That is a fact. We welcome the publication of the Cassells report on higher education. Since its publication, we initiated a debate in our party about funding for higher education. Politically, it is not the most vote winning idea. No one will go back to a constituency and get a pile of votes for trying to deliver for third level. The right thing to do for our country, society, young people and third level teachers is to try to work together to provide that funding. In our manifesto, we identified a gap of approximately €100 million per annum. The Cassells report identified a similar gap.

We are not happy that €100 million has not been delivered. However, we are happy that €36.5 million has been delivered and that, for the first time in years, some State funding has been added to the pot for third level education because in the past, the student registration increased and the State funding decreased. That was the Labour Party way. Whatever model of funding is decided on eventually, and the Oireachtas committee will examine that and some Government, although possibly not this minority one, will have to decide on a fair way to fund third level education to ensure people have access to it but no matter what decision is taken, it will require more State funding. We have to get to first base on that. It needs more State funding, and while the €36.5 million that has been allocated is welcome, it is not enough. It was the result of political pressure my leader and my party put on over recent weeks and months. In the Government's action plan on education there was hardly any mention of third level funding and when it came to budget time, we were told there is a three year strategy in place in terms of third level funding. I agree with Deputy Burton that this demonstrates a total lack of vision regarding education. Instead of sitting down and having an overall vision, the Minister and the Department are reacting to events. Fianna Fáil identified this funding gap in our manifesto. The Cassells report was published, and we imposed serious pressure to get that funding delivered because there is a huge deterioration, particularly in the staff-student ratio at third level. The average staff-student ratio in the OECD is 14:1. In Ireland, it is 19.5:1 at this stage. That is an issue that will begin to be addressed because if that funding was not allocated, the problem would just get worse because there will be increasing numbers of students.

We will have to consider also the type of vision that Fianna Fáil Governments demonstrated in the past in terms of establishing the regional college network and when Blanchardstown Institute of Technology was established. We will have to establish another college somewhere because in terms of the demographics coming up through the system at primary level, and it is starting to go into secondary level, now is the time to plan the type of extra third level provision we will need over the next ten or 12 years and identify the location, skillsets and all that goes with that because it is an issue we have to take seriously.

The average class size in Ireland is 25. It is greater than the European average, which is 21. However, there are a huge number of small schools here which affects the average. Approximately 130,000 children, including all three of my children, are in super-sized classes of more than 30 students. That figure is up from 96,000 in the school year 2006-07, which admittedly was at the height of the resources that would have been available. Almost 10,000 children are in classes of more than 35 students. That cannot continue. As a first step to ease that burden, Fianna Fáil will be pushing to reduce class sizes at primary level, and we have already got a commitment on that in the confidence and supply arrangement. We want the Government to reduce them to an average class size of a maximum of 23 children. Over the term of the Government, from the next budget on, year on year, we believe the ambition should be to progressively implement one point reductions in the scale, prioritising the youngest children under nine years of age where lower ratios have been shown to have the greatest impact.

With everything that is being said and done currently with regard to teachers, we must always remember that teachers are one of the fundamental building blocks of our society and the community in which we live. To a large degree, they are the people to whom we sub-contract the education and the imparting of knowledge to our children when they are at school. I am sure every colleague here will agree that the work of teachers is appreciated by this Dáil so we have to make sure that in terms of the public sector pay commission announced today by the Government, something Fianna Fáil demanded as part of the confidence and supply arrangement, the role of teachers in shaping our economy and our society is addressed. First and foremost, we must get the pay scales fully equalised. I acknowledge that significant progress was made over the summer in terms of restoring the allowances and building them into the pay scales. That has been done, and the INTO and the TUI members will notice that in their wages next year. They will also notice the benefits of the Lansdowne Road agreement and the restoration of income. That is very welcome. Like everybody else, I wish it could be more but it is significant.

Some teachers will get significant pay rises next year if they are in the INTO and the TUI. The ASTI members will not get them because they have chosen to remain outside the Lansdowne Road agreement. This and that has been said about the ASTI teachers. The average ASTI teacher is a very middle of the road person, generally speaking, from very good schools. They do a very good job, and if one meets them they will say they have the education of children as their first priority. Strikes are planned, and other industrial action is planned also. They are meeting with the Government on that but I ask the ASTI members to examine the benefits that are available to their colleagues in the TUI and the INTO to see if they would like to be part of that and to receive those benefits. Every major party in this Dáil, except the small left wing parties, supports the Lansdowne Road agreement because we realise there is a certain amount of money available. All the unions in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Government have got together and negotiated this to try to get the best possible deal for them. We might not agree with every aspect of it, but it seems to me to be a reasonable attempt to work out a fair deal for unwinding the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation. It is part of rowing that back.

If we rowed it back immediately, it would cost €2.3 billion, as has been often quoted. A huge amount of that would go to higher paid civil servants because they are getting much greater benefit than those at the lower end. We cannot unwind it all at once. We have to unwind it very carefully, going from low to high. Already, some of those at the very bottom of the scale will be on slightly more pay than they were on in 2008. We would like them to have even more, but the unwinding is happening at a progressive rate. We want to see that continuing to happen.

The Minister of State should see himself not just as part of a Government that is on another side in the negotiations with unions. He can also be an advocate for teachers. He can be somebody who says that we value what teachers do, that this is the direction in which he sees the teaching profession going, and that this is the value we put on teachers as educators and as the building blocks of society and of our economy. That message can be sent to get goodwill among the sector, and the public service pay commission will play an important role in that regard. If the opportunity arises, I look forward to making a submission to it on the work of teachers and other staff throughout the education sector; it is not all about teachers.

With regard to the ASTI, its members should look at what is available and on what they are losing out. I am not in the business of having arguments with them. I am in the business of listening to them and their many and various concerns. They should look at what is available to see if there is a realistic possibility of a better deal.

There is a realistic possibility of making further progress on the question of the young teachers. We have already made a substantial move on that within the Lansdowne Road agreement. There is no reason we cannot show the way on that, and move even further forward on it. Everyone accepts that it cannot all be done on day one but if we say to them that this is what we can do, it will indicate a seriousness of intent to eliminate that discrepancy.

We have tabled an amendment to the motion that recognises the items we have done and acknowledges some of our concerns. In terms of education, however, most of us here would prefer to work together to ensure we get the best possible system, the best pay for our teachers, the best outcomes for our young people and the best value for society because that is what it is all about.

Níl mé chun mórán eile a rá, ach ba mhaith liom críochnú trí thrácht a dhéanamh ar thábhacht na Gaeilge sa chóras oideachais. Tá sé mar sheasamh ag Fianna Fáil go bhfuil sé tábhachtach an Ghaeilge a choimeád i gcroílár an chórais sin agus freisin gur cheart níos mó dul chun cinn a dhéanamh ar theangacha eile. Foghlaimíonn daltaí Gaeilge, Fraincis, Gearmáinis agus teangacha eile ar scoil.

Caithfimid torthaí na foghlama sin a dhéanamh níos fearr. Ba cheart dúinn a chinntiú go bhfuil daoine flúirseach sa Ghaeilge, agus sna teangacha eile atá foghlamtha acu, nuair a thagann siad amach as an gcóras scolaíochta. Is léir go bhfuil ag teip orainn sa dúshlán sin faoi láthair. Tá a lán oibre le déanamh. Ba mhaith liom níos mó a dhéanamh. Measaim go n-aontóidh an Leas-Cheann Comhairle liom gur chóir do Theachtaí sa Dáil seo níos mó Gaeilge a labhairt sna díospóireachtaí éagsúla, seachas díospóireachtaí ar an nGaeilge amháin. Thaispeánfadh sé sin do dhaoine go bhfuil an teanga beo agus tábhachtach agus go bhfuil toradh úsáideach as foghlaim na Gaeilge ar scoil.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Tuigim go bhfuil an Teachta Nolan ag roinnt a cuid ama leis an Teachta Funchion.

Deputy Carol Nolan

Roinnfidh mé trí nóiméad léi. Tá mé lán-sásta caint faoi oideachas anocht. Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhairt ar an gcóras oideachais. Níl aon dabht ach go bhfuil bearnaí móra sa chóras oideachais faoi láthair. Tá sé soiléir nach bhfuil páistí nó daltaí tríú leibhéal ag fáil cothrom na Féinne faoi láthair. Iarraim ar na páirtithe atá i gcumhacht feabhas a chur ar an scéal agus i bhfad níos mó a dhéanamh chun é seo a athrú go buan.

This motion does not go far enough. I agree that the issue of class sizes is one that must be addressed and I am hugely disappointed that, despite our having the second highest class sizes in Europe, there was no provision for a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio at primary level in budget 2017. I am also disappointed that there was no significant move to address spiralling back to school costs that are crippling ordinary and middle income households across this State. This is a huge issue and a joint Oireachtas committee report was produced on it, which I assume is sitting on a shelf somewhere. The Government needs to take it off the shelf and do something about back to school costs as soon as possible.

The Labour Party is right to highlight the fact that the €36.5 million allocated to third level will not address the immediate demands of the sector and will scarcely cover demographic changes and ongoing policy initiatives. On these matters, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin agree. However, the motion put forward by the Labour Party completely ignores the significant cuts to critical areas such as the NEPS service, school transport, the school completion programme and guidance counselling services. Sinn Féin has called for the restoration of one guidance counsellor per 500 pupils, ex quota, and 100 is not enough. The motion also conveniently ignores the fact that previous Labour Party Ministers for Education and Skills stood over one of the most despicable cuts to our education system, namely, the 15% cut in resource hours' teaching for children with special educational needs. This was outrageous, considering the fact that these children have been in overcrowded classrooms for many years. It ignores the fact that it was a Labour Minister for Education and Skills who increased student fees despite a clear promise not to do so during an election campaign.

Unfortunately, the Labour Party has very little to be proud of in terms of funding for education. That is the simple reality. Budget 2017 does not go anything like far enough to reverse the regressive, harsh cuts imposed on our education system since 2008. It is a missed opportunity and makes a sham of the Minister's so-called plan to create the best education system in Europe. Over 200 schools are currently using prefab accommodation to teach our children and a significant number of schools do not have access to broadband or robust wireless networks. A survey by the Higher Education Authority stated that almost 40% of the capital buildings at third level are in need of upgrade or replacement. Children all across this State wait years to obtain an educational assessment while those with an established special educational need cannot obtain the recommended hours with their resource teacher.

The ESRI has pointed out that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by the cuts to guidance counselling. While I welcome the announcement of the 100 posts in budget 2017, this is not nearly enough to provide the 750 posts needed to provide guidance counselling on the basis of one counsellor per 500 students ex quota.

Every year I am sure everyone in this House, particularly rural Deputies, is contacted by constituents who have had issues with the school transport system. It is clear that the system does not provide for the needs of our students and does not reflect the reality on the ground, where parents wish to send their child to the established school for their community, the school their friends attend, the school their siblings attend or the school that has been the traditional school for children from their neighbourhood. The huge increase in the numbers of children availing of concessionary transport highlights the fact that this system is failing miserably. The programme for Government contains a clear commitment that a review of the school transport system would be carried out prior to budget 2017 but this has not been fulfilled.

The programme for Government also contains a clear commitment that a review of the barriers to education for lone parents would be completed prior to budget 2017. This raises the question of how many more commitments in relation to education under the programme for Government will not be delivered. This Government needs to show that it is serious about investing in our education system, and about securing the best possible future for our young people. We on the Opposition benches must continue to fight to ensure that this happens. We must not be content to settle for scraps. Our young people deserve much better. This motion does not go far enough and I am urging all parties to support the Sinn Féin amendment. Iarraim ar na páirtithe eile tacaíocht a thabhairt do leasú Shinn Féin.

Deputy Kathleen Funchion

I welcome some of the positive aspects in budget 2017 on education, such as the increase for resource teachers and special needs assistants. One serious obstacle, however, is the rising costs for parents of sending their children to school. The Bill calls for a multiannual increase to school capitation rates and I support this as it could put a stop to the need for voluntary contributions from parents. Anyone who is a parent will know exactly what this contribution is. Voluntary contributions are often a minimum spend of €150 per child, a significant amount of money that many families simply do not have and which pushes many over the poverty line. This Government has not committed to tackling the high costs associated with sending children to school. Many families struggle to meet the basic costs and the notion of a free education system is a myth.

There is no consistency in respect of voluntary contributions. In Kilkenny in my own constituency, the range goes from €100 to €160 per child at primary school level. We cannot blame schools for this - it is due to the cuts in capitation rates over the past number of years. Schools have to bridge this gap but they are using the money for basic things such as heat and electricity. It is crazy in this day and age that we have to ask for the necessities our children need on a daily basis. They should be funded completely by the State and pressure should not be put on schools and teachers to come up with this money. This puts pressure on parents and families who are often already struggling. On top of the voluntary contribution there are school books, uniforms, transport and all the other school supplies. It rises every year and it needs to be tackled.

All levels of education are important in a child's life, but primary education is crucial for a child's development. If their stability is already being challenged at such an early stage, this will inevitably have a knock-on effect for their later educational prospects.

One of the proposals we put forward in our alternative budget was to increase capitation rates by 2%. This was seen as a first measure, but it would go some way towards deal with the problem of these voluntary contributions and the notes that constantly come home for €5, €10 or €20 for this and that. I do not blame the schools or the teachers - it is not their fault. They are left with no choice. In order to run the school, they need the money, but it puts a lot of pressure on parents and families. It is very difficult for some parents to explain to their children that they do not have the money and they have to be the one sent into school without it. It is not good, particularly at primary level which is so important for children. I support that aspect of the motion.

As my colleague stated, we have tabled an amendment and I urge Deputies to support that also.

Deputy Mick Barry

I will refer to the issues of pay rates for new entrant teachers and big business funding for third level institutions. I will start with the latter.

In his speech to the Dáil on budget day, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, stated that "Ensuring education remains the linchpin of our economic success requires an intensified focus on a sustainable long-term model for higher and further education". He went on to state:

The Minister for Education and Skills and I are, therefore, initiating a consultation process on the design and operation of an Exchequer-employer investment mechanism to operate from 2018 onwards. This is also intended to drive continued reform, quality and performance across the sector, in line with the action plan for education. I expect this proposal to be brought to the Government by the middle of next year, following the conclusion of consultation.

I believe that these are key sentences in the Budget Statement made by the Minister and they have not, to date, been given sufficient attention either by the Dáil or the media. The Minister clearly seems to be opening the door here for an increased level of private sector investment in the third level sector. This is in line with neoliberal trends in other countries, trends which are undermining the value of third level education as we have known it.

In the journal Academic Matters, in a piece about private sector investment in third level education in Canada, Dr. Jamie Brownlee wrote recently that "once underfunding has undermined the integrity and functionality of a public system, corporations and market-oriented bureaucrats are invited to come in and reinvigorate these 'failing' institutions through restructuring or privatization". Dr. Brownlee outlines how private sector investment in the Canadian third level sector has over time boosted the commercialisation of research, increased contract faculty working, resulted in increased co-ordination of university programmes and labour market needs to the severe detriment of arts based courses, resulted in the appointment of management consultant company representatives to the boards of universities and led to ever higher tuition fees with students being seen increasingly as customers.

In the United States, two individuals, brothers Charles and David Koch, donated $23.4 million to colleges and universities in 2014. Of course, there were strings attached. These strings included control over the curriculum and the right to obtain personal information about students. Control over curriculum included the promotion of what were described as "deregulatory government policies". In Britain, the Conservative Government is turning the higher education system into a competitive market-driven system. In four years' time, private providers will get the power to award degrees. For-profit business will have the power to use the title "university", somewhat like the Trump University in the United States. Writing in the Financial Times, Mr. Martin Wolf recently commented that the British Government proposes to turn them into the equivalent of purveyors of baked beans. No doubt the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, will say that cannot or will not happen here, but that is what happens when big business gets a strong grip on third level. It would be naive to think otherwise. It would be naive to think that Ireland would take the same road as Canada, the US and Britain but end up at a different destination. There needs to be far more debate about the Minister's proposal and resistance to it should not be delayed until 2018.

The Labour Party motion states that it welcomes "the funding of agreements reached with trade unions regarding pay levels for new entrant teachers". The Labour Party used to support the principle of equal pay for equal work. Why is the Labour Party, and Fianna Fáil, now supporting a deal between Government and some trade union leaders which keeps in place unequal pay for equal work? According to the president of the largest secondary teachers union in the State, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland, Mr. Ed Byrne, this morning, the agreement referred to in the motion will mean that a secondary teacher who joined the profession between 2011 and 2016 will earn €2,775 less next year doing exactly the same work as someone who joined the profession before 2011 with the same number of years on the clock. Would the Labour Party support pay discrimination on the grounds of race, gender or sexual orientation? If not, why then support it on the grounds of what year one joins a profession, in most cases, effectively, on the grounds of age? No doubt the reply will be that partial restoration is a step in the right direction, but one would not justify a mere partial bridging of a gap between workers with different skin colour. Why then justify it in this case? Equal pay for equal work is a principle and cannot be subdivided.

Perhaps the Labour Party might argue that the example given above would be illegal but that this case is actually legal. So what? Votes for women was once illegal. The right to strike was once illegal, and still is for gardaí. Free speech was once illegal. Unjust rules and laws were fought and overturned by struggles from below. Never were they changed, by the way, by the establishment imposing fair play. Always they were won as a result of an organised fight against that same establishment.

The ASTI is to be congratulated for deciding to fight for the basic trade union principle of equal pay for equal work. We will be more than happy to back them in their strike every inch of the way.

Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 18 Oct 2016

Funding for Education: Motion [Private Members]

Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Oct 2016