Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
328. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the funding bid her Department submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in advance of budget 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40963/26]
View answerThe annual Estimates and Budgetary process is a matter for Government and is subject to detailed engagement between Departments and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. As part of this process, my Department engages extensively with that Department in advance of the Budget, including the submission of proposals across a range of priority areas in line with Government policy and programme commitments.
On 21 April, the Government agreed to provide further additional funding of €646 million to the Department of Education and Youth to help ensure that high-quality education services are maintained for children and young people across the country. This funding is on a permanent basis and will address longstanding funding gaps in my Department. This increased budget also includes provision for additional SNAs due to no redeployment of existing SNAs in the 2026/27 school year, resources to accommodate additional children and young people with special educational needs in our schools, enhanced supports for survivors of historical residential abuse and meeting obligations arising from ongoing negotiations of certain pay and conditions of staff working across the schools’ education sector. There is to be no reduction to other education and youth services on foot of the additional funding agreed.
This will result in an overall increase of €1.9 billion in the gross expenditure allocation for 2026 over the original allocation for 2025. Securing this funding will help to meet the needs of almost 4,000 schools and 1 million children and young people and, in particularly, for special education where the need has grown significantly. This agreement is ultimately subject to Dáil approval and will bring the 2026 budget for the Department of Education and Youth to €14.1 billion.
I am proud that we are allocating such significant investment for primary, post primary and special needs education along with funding for youth education related services, which allows us tackle disadvantage and support the achievement and needs of all our students.
It is also important to note that my Department has a proven track record of accurately forecasting the costs required to appropriately fund the highly demand-led education sector. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted an assessment in 2025 and found that education in Ireland to be “at or close to the frontier” when it came to public spending efficiency when compared across other OECD, EU and peer countries. We also work very closely with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation on expenditure and funding matters. Over recent years, Government has provided significant additional investment in education, including funding for pay, capital projects, school transport, reduced class sizes, and expanded special education supports along with crisis related funding in response to Covid, Ukraine and the cost-of-living. It is a shared aim to ensure the education and youth sectors are on a sustainable fiscal footing going forward.
