I offer an apology on behalf of the Ministers of State, Deputies de Valera and Brian Lenihan, who unfortunately cannot be present. They have asked me to indicate that if the select committee wants to discuss any elements of the Estimates that specifically pertain to their areas of responsibility, they will be delighted to come at some time in the future.
I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to discuss the Education Estimates for 2003. You, a Chathaoirligh, have already drawn attention to the change in the presentation of this year's Estimates, which is referred to in the brief. Previously the Estimates were presented in the form of four Votes which from June 2003 will be amalgamated into a single Vote which will follow the former Vote and subhead pattern as closely as possible and not result in any diminution of the existing number of subhead lines in 2003. This change to a single Vote complements the structural changes I have been making in the Department following on the report by Mr. Seán Cromien. Increasingly, more issues must be addressed by the Department on a thematic or cross-sectoral basis rather than by strict categorisation by first, second or third level. The amalgamation of the Votes will align the financial functioning of the Department with the approach taken in the Department's statement of strategy. Furthermore, it brings the arrangements for my Department into line with those for most other Departments. In order to give effect to this amalgamation, it was still necessary for technical, accounting and legal reasons, to include the four Education Votes in the 2003 Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services. The Vote for the Office of the Minister for Education and Science is an administrative title and covers the salaries and other costs of running the Department as well as various other miscellaneous legitimate educational activities, and is not the Vote dealing with the cost of running my own office only.
The Revised Estimates for 2003 provide for gross education expenditure to increase by 9% to almost €5.9 billion, compared to expenditure in 2002. In the context of difficult times for public sector expenditure, this increase will allow me to maintain the considerable progress made in recent years and also to make further investment in critical areas of disadvantaged students and children with special needs. Accordingly, while there is never enough funding to deal with all the issues one would like to, the Government has agreed to an overall increase in education expenditure. While difficult choices have to be made, there is no cutback in the overall level of education expenditure.
The 2003 Estimate for current expenditure for the Education Votes shows a 12% increase on 2002 expenditure. This will enable existing services to continue and allows for some expansion in priority areas. It also includes provision for the payment of a quarter of the benchmarking award backdated to 1 December 2001.
The capital provision for education for 2003 is 15% lower than 2002 expenditure. As I said, the overall level of spending in education will grow but there were difficult choices. Deputies will be aware that pupil-teacher ratios have been improved significantly in recent years with the appointment of many more additional teachers to our schools. However, it follows from this development that with approximately four out of every five euro that the Department spends going on the staffing of our educational institutions, it was not possible to maintain the more recent level of capital development while protecting and consolidating the improvements made in teacher numbers. This reduction in the capital programme follows five years of very significant increases in the schools and colleges building programme.
As the committee would not want me to comment on each of the various subheads, I will focus on a number of specific areas, starting with subheads A1 to A7 in the Vote for the Office of the Minister for Education and Science, which comprise the administrative budget for the Department. An 18% increase in expenditure overall has been provided for and while some of this relates to normal payroll issues arising from the national pay agreements, significant sums are also being spent on new developments such as improved IT infrastructure and a new computerised financial management system for the Department. This latter development arises from Government initiatives such as the strategic management initiative, SMI, and the more recent developments in relation to overall financial management in the public service.
An important area under this Vote is the national educational psychological service - NEPS for short - which has made significant progress since its inception. The service continues to expand and improve. The 2003 Estimate shows a 30% increase in provision for this service mainly due to an increase in recruitment of psychologists from a figure of 87 in early 2002 to a figure of 121.
The allocation of €5.4 million for the National Education Welfare Board will allow this relatively recently established body to begin to organise and progressively expand a service established to provide a nationwide integrated service to deal with the educational welfare of children. The new Act provides a comprehensive framework for promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism, early school-leaving and related issues.
Following the establishment of the State Examinations Commission, which came into effect on 6 March this year, we are continuing our programme of structural reform. The objective is to ensure the Department can focus on the vital areas of policy development, forward planning and evaluation. The next significant steps in the reform programme include developments involving the Special Education Council and the programme of regional offices for the Department.
The Special Education Council will operate as a body independent of the Department. A chief executive officer and senior staff have been appointed and action is under way to get this new body operational. The 2003 Estimate provides for more than €4 million to cater for the major start-up costs of this body. A statutory framework will underpin its work.
The Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill will provide a statutory framework within which the education of children and people who have special educational needs because of disabilities can be guaranteed. The consultation process on the Bill, which was extended due to the strong interest in the subject, has now been completed. The heads of the Bill have been approved by Government and the Bill is now being drafted.
As currently structured, the Department is highly centralised with the vast majority of staff located in three locations in Dublin, Athlone and Tullamore. These central offices are the first point of contact for 3,300 primary schools, more than 22,000 primary teachers, more than 18,000 post-primary teachers and the majority of second level schools. They are also the main points of contact for parents and others seeking information on a vast array of educational issues. We plan to set up ten regional offices which will act as a one-stop-shop with national educational psychological services, special needs organisers, National Education Welfare Board staff, inspectorate and regional office staff all based in the same building. The first office should be ready later this year. While more than €500,000 was spent in preliminary work in this area in 2002, the Estimate proposed for 2003 is almost €3.5 million.
I have indicated that the number of teachers has risen significantly in recent years. To illustrate this, Deputies might note that the number of primary teachers has risen from a figure of 21,000 in 1998 to almost 26,000 at present. Part of this rise includes the numbers of resource teachers allocated to children with special needs. The Government has continued to give priority to those with special needs. The numbers of resource teachers and special needs assistants supporting children with special needs have expanded considerably. As a result of this policy, the numbers of such staff have expanded enormously - the number of resource teachers has increased from 104 in 1998 to more than 2,000 at present. The number of special needs assistants has grown from about 300 to more than 4,000 full-time and almost 1,200 part-time staff at present.
Earlier this year I published the 2003 capital programme. Full details in relation to individual projects at first and second level are available on the Department's website. However, despite the overall reduction in the capital programme and in recognition of the position in some schools and the Government's commitment, the programme for the primary sector only involves a reduction of less than 3% for ordinary primary schools. When work on young offender centres is taken into account, the overall position is one of almost 3% additional spending in this area. I have acknowledged that this position is not satisfactory, but I had to make difficult choices. Existing current commitments were a first call on available funding.
I referred earlier to the significant and rapid growth in the number of primary teachers over a period of a few years. That progress has meant, ironically, that accommodation difficulties have arisen because we have been unable to keep pace with the physical improvements to buildings needed to underpin the considerable human resources put into the system and to provide modern teaching and learning spaces for teachers and their pupils. This problem has to be addressed in the context of the overall financial situation we face.
I am determined to ensure that the budget for school buildings can be maintained in the years ahead. I am in discussions with my colleague, the Minister for Finance, in relation to putting in place a capital programme over the next five years to tackle this problem in a planned and coherent manner, starting in 2004. While much has been made of the cost of renting temporary accommodation, it is not possible to eliminate such accommodation entirely. New schools, for example, must prove their viability before permanent accommodation can be provided.
This year's school building programme gives an idea of how much progress has been made and how much work is being done in schools. In 1997, 30 school building projects were under way at primary level and only 12 projects were under way at second level, figures that contrast with the 2003 school building programme. Some 92 large scale primary building projects and 36 post-primary projects were recently completed, while 85 large scale primary and 38 post-primary projects are currently under construction or have been authorised to go to construction.
We have adopted the innovative approach of devising standard plans for various school sizes. The designs, which are being drawn up in the Department, will enable us to reduce substantially the design fees that are incurred in each project - currently about 13% of project costs. The fact that a standard design for four, eight, 12 and 16 room schools can be devised will mean that more money will be spent on actual buildings. In addition to the savings on design fees, the new system will enable us to respond more quickly to building needs when money becomes available.
Adult education is another priority of the Government. The 2003 Estimates contain increases in the allocations for adult education and for adult literacy to support the network of community education facilitators and to provide for the full-year costs of the back to education initiative. This funding will enable substantial progress to be made this year in implementing the White Paper on Adult Education, Learning for Life, which was published in 2000. A national adult literacy programme was the main priority identified in the White Paper. Investment has risen from a base of €1.08 million in 1997 to €17.9 million in 2003. Participants on VEC literacy schemes have increased from 5,000 in 1997 to over 28,000 now.
These Estimates outline significant expenditure in the education sector and significant increases in many specific areas. This has been achieved in spite of less certain economic conditions, as well as the other competing demands on the Government finances. The Estimates demonstrate the Government's continued commitment to the education sector and a commitment to all who are served by the educational system - children, students and adults - as well as a commitment to all the staff who work within it. I commend them to the committee.
