Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 June 2025
283. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will give detailed consideration to the issues outlined in document, recently produced by a national organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33303/25]
View answerOver recent budgets, additional resources have been made available to our schools, including through the delivery of thousands of extra teaching and Special Needs Assistant posts, increased capitation in schools, enhanced supports for school leadership, additional resources for special education, inclusion and wellbeing measures, reduced primary school class sizes, actions to assist teacher supply and free schoolbooks to help reduce the school costs for families.
My aim for Budget 2026 is to deliver on the priorities outlined in the Programme for Government and to continue to support the students, staff and families in the education sector.
In the lead up to the Budget, my Department receives a number of pre-budget submissions from a range of different stakeholders in the education sector and from organisations involved in other areas of public policy. All such submissions will be reviewed and they will inform the specific budgetary priorities that I will be seeking to achieve in Budget 2026. Therefore, as I am sure the Deputy appreciates, it would not be appropriate for me to outline any more specific plans at this preliminary stage of the Budgetary process.
