I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £3,068,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1975, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Education (including Institutions of Science and Art), for certain miscellaneous education and cultural services and for payment of sundry grants-in-aid.
I understand that with the agreement of the Opposition, all the Education Votes will be discussed together.
The total additional amount being provided in the Supplementary Estimates for the five education Votes, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 33 is £26,246,000. This represents a percentage increase of about 13.5 on the original Estimate of £191,233,000 This figure was in turn £41 million greater than that in the Book of Estimates for 1974.
Included in the total amount of £26,246,000 is a sum of £19.6 million approximately for increased provision for salaries. It includes the extra cost arising from the implementation of the terms of the 16th round salary agreement and adjustments in certain allowances negotiated through the conciliation and arbitration schemes.
In the case of Vote 29—Primary Education—the additional amount required for subhead C.1 is £8,696,200 and in Vote 30—subhead B—an additional amount of £4,928,400 is requested for incremental salaries. The additional amount in subhead A of Vote 31—Annual Grants to Vocational Education Committees—is mainly for salaries and, similarly, subhead I.1 of the same Vote requires additional provision for salaries of teachers in the regional technical colleges.
The provision of £3,086,800 in subhead A2 of Vote 33—Higher Education—for the purpose of additional money to the Higher Education Authority in respect of general, non-capital, grants to universities and colleges and designated institutions of higher education includes in addition to an appropriate sum in respect of the 16th round salary increases, an amount of £1,500,000 to enable the colleges to reduce their financial deficits and be in a better position to meet their commitments in 1976.
Items for which additional provision is required arising out of claims at the conciliation and arbitration scheme include improvements in principals' and vice-principals' allowances and the payment of maternity leave to teachers.
Additional provision is being made in the Supplementary Estimates for £1,150,000 for capitation grants to secondary schools and £825,000 in the case of the supplemental grants payable to secondary schools in lieu of tuition fees. Deputies will recall that on 7th May last I announced that the Government had decided to increase the rates of these grants as follows as from the beginning of the school year 1975-6: Capitation grants: Maximum rates of grant—junior pupils from £19 to £28; senior pupils from £24 to £36; grant in lieu of tuition fees from £35 to £50.
The tuition fee had already been increased by £5 to £35 as from the beginning of the school year 1974-5. The increase in that grant in two years has accordingly been £20 or 66? per cent.
In the course of my statement on 7th May last, I explained the circumstances in which the Government had decided on these increases. The financial support to voluntary secondary schools from the State comprises:
(i) Capitation grants payable to all schools;
(ii) Grants in lieu of tuition fees in the case of schools under Catholic management in the free education scheme—a special variation of the scheme suited to the circumstances applies to the case of schools under Protestant management.
The rates of capitation grant for secondary schools had not been increased since 1st August, 1969. It is true, of course, that in the meantime the State has borne the entire cost of the increases in salaries for secondary teachers by way of adjustment of the incremental salary portion of the teachers' salaries. It is also a fact that the basic salary portion of the teachers' salaries—the portion of the salary payable by the school authorities—has remained static at £400 since 1st August, 1969 and that some relationship, whether direct or indirect, must be accepted as existing between the amount of basis salary per teacher, the pupil/teacher ratio and the rate of capitation grant per pupil. Nevertheless, the Government accepted, on my recommendation, that in consideration of the increase in costs arising under other headings an adjustment in the rate of the capitation grant as from the beginning of the school year 1975-76 was appropriate and necessary.
As from the commencement of the school year 1969-70 the rate of the grant per pupil in lieu of tuition fees payable to schools in the free education scheme was £25. An increase of £5 was allowed as from the beginning of the school year 1972-73 and a further £5 as from the beginning of the school year 1973-4. The further increase of £15 as from the beginning of the school year 1975-6 brings the amount of the grant at present payable to £50 per pupil.
In connection with the general provision for the financing of secondary schools, I might also recall that during 1975 the terms of the secondary schools building grant scheme were amended to provide a grant of 80 per cent in respect of the total approved cost of the school premises including the cost of furniture, equipment and fees but excluding site cost. This new arrangement will confer a great advantage on secondary schools. Previously no loan or grant from the Department was available for furniture for ordinary classrooms and grants in aid of specialist rooms were so inadequate that, in practice, school authorities found that the 70 per cent grant for the school premises did not constitute much more than 50 per cent in many cases of the total cost of the school plus furniture and equipment. The new arrangement means effectively an increase in the grant from not much more than 50 per cent in many cases to 80 per cent in all cases. It also means that the money which school authorities had to set aside for furniture and equipment will now be available to meet the balance of the 20 per cent required for the school premises, furniture and equipment.
The additional provision of £129,000 in subhead C of Vote 30 is required to meet the increased cost of conducting the Department's certificate examinations. Improved rates of remuneration were paid to examiners and improved rates of travelling and subsistence allowances to superintendents at the examination centres. There were also increases in printing costs of the examination papers and in transport costs. An increase in provision for similar reasons is required in subhead F, of Vote 31 — Vocational Education.
The increase in the provision required in J.1 for secondary comprehensive and community schools is in respect of salaries for the teachers and of general operating costs. There are at present 14 comprehensive schools and 18 community schools in operation in which 15,600 pupils approximately are enrolled. The main increase in operating costs arise from increased costs of heat and light, and for maintenance and cleaning contracts, as well as increases in costs of administration in respect of printing, stationery, postage, telephones et cetera.
The scheme of aid towards the cost of school books in second-level schools is operated on a reasonably flexible basis which makes it difficult to make accurate estimates of cost well in advance of the period during which the expenditure is incurred. The provision in 1975 in subhead K of Vote 30 includes recoupment in respect of some claims for the school-year 1974-5 which were not received in time for payment in 1974. The greater part of the excess arises, however, from the fact that demands from schools were appreciably higher than originally anticipated. An increase in the cost of school books was a contributory factor in this regard.
In the case of the Vote for primary education it has been found necessary to open a subhead C. 10 for this year only to meet payments in connection with painting of schools undertaken and completed before 31st December, 1974, and for which the managers concerned had not been recouped before 1st January, 1975. The new scheme of capitation grants towards the operating costs of national schools —subhead C.6 of Vote 29 for 1975— comprehends these grants as from 1975.
The original provision of £10,000,000 in subhead E of Vote 29 —Building Equipment and Furnishing of National Schools—is being increased in the Supplementary Estimate to £11,000,000. This amount compares with the actual expenditure of £6,629,283 in the financial year 1973-4, the last previous 12 month financial year period. The total capital provision for the building of schools and colleges in the year 1975 is now £26,395,000 including £2,784,000 from the local loans fund.
The relevant subhead provision for free school transport—D. 3 of Vote 28 —is being increased by £3,318,700. A large portion of this increase— £1,043,700 is in respect of operating costs. Increased provision of £2,275,000 is, however, required for the purpose of making a payment to CIE in respect of the written down value of all school buses as at 31st March, 1974. It does not represent an additional charge on the Exchequer, since at the same time as the Department of Education pays the appropriate amount to CIE an identical amount will be paid by CIE to the Department of Finance. The aim of the transactions is to enable a more satisfactory arrangement to be made in relation to the financing of school transport services, including the capital required for the purchase of the school buses.
The remaining increases arise generally in miscellaneous subheads, such as travelling and incidentals, post office services, international organisations et cetera, where the increases incurred were largely outside the control of the Department of Education.
Finally, I should wish to make a brief reference to developments over the past year in relation to the reorganisation of educational structures and courses at third level.
Following my announcement of the Government's decisions on 16th December, 1974, I have been engaged at their request in continuing consultation and exchange of views with various interests in higher education with a view to elucidation of the decisions and their implementations.
The governing bodies of the National Institute of Higher Education, Limerick and Dublin, have been established in accordance with the Government's decisions and held their first meeting on 19th June last. On that occasion I met both governing bodies together and in the course of my address outlined the role, in the Government's view, of the NIHEs in the sphere of higher education.
In the meantime the governing bodies have been engaged in the work entrusted to them. They have each nominated ten members to serve on the reconstituted National Council for Educational Awards, and I am now recommending persons for nomination by the Government to complete the membership of the council.
I would also like to inform the House of progress in the implementation of the Government's decision in relation to the National College of Physical Education, Limerick, and the College of Education for Teachers of Specialist Subjects, which is planned for the same campus. The Government decided that these two colleges should have a joint governing body of 25 members. I am happy to say that invitations have been issued to serve on this governing body and also that the institution—which will embrace the National College of Physical Education and the college of Education for Teachers of Specialist Subjects—and for which the governing body will have responsibility will be known as The Thomond College of Education.
The National College of Physical Education has already been successfully established. When the College of Education for Teachers of Specialist Subjects is in operation we will be catering on one campus for our teaching needs in the areas of physical education, woodwork, metalwork, rural and general science and building construction. In addition to providing initial teacher training in those areas, the Thomond college will be a major centre for in-service training for teachers of general subjects and for teachers in remedial and adult education.
In conclusion, I desire to state that satisfactory arrangements have been completed between the university authorities and the Colleges of Education for Primary Teachers for the award of a university degree on the successful completion of the new three-year course of study in these colleges.