Education funding and staffing
Thomas Byrne argues the education budget increase is overstated because much of it is for pensions and demographics, and says spending is not being planned properly. The Taoiseach replies that education spending is rising to a record level, while the debate becomes a broader row about spending priorities.
On the commitments to education in the programme for Government, there is a €675 million increase in the budget for education for 2019 compared with 2018. It turns out that €147 million of that is for pensions and another undisclosed amount is to deal with demographic changes. Every year for the past number of years a Supplementary Estimate to deal with substantial pension costs has been added on to the education Estimate because the Department of Education and Skills does not know how many teachers will retire. This relates to the question put by Deputy Catherine Martin. It is an issue we have raised on numerous occasions. This year, approximately 2,000 teachers will retire when the Department of Education and Skills had predicted that approximately 700 teachers would retire. What is the Government proposing to do about that in the context of the programme for Government? The Department appears to be the only big-spending Department whose share of overall Government expenditure is decreasing. The share for the Departments of Health, Housing, Planning and Local Government, and, rightly, Employment Affairs and Social Protection has increased but the share for the Department of Education and Skills has decreased. That shows a lack of commitment to this issue.
Comment on this
Spending in all of these areas in increasing. The budget for education will be €11 billion next year, which is the largest budget ever for education. The Deputy's performance today once again demonstrates the dilemma the Government faces. We are being told, perhaps correctly, by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council that we need to rein in spending but every time I come in here all I hear from the Opposition, and the only thing on which it is united, is that we should spend more and more.
Comment on this
I am criticising the Government for not planning its spending properly.
Comment on this
If one Department gets proportionately more than another, the Opposition wants to spend even more again.
Comment on this
Why is the share for education falling?
Comment on this
Deputy Byrne needs to go back to school. The numbers are going up, not down.