Budget 2025 will not deliver for education
- Money for mobile phone pouches but not for reduced class sizes or enough places for children with additional needs
Dublin West Labour General Election candidate Cllr John Walsh has slammed Budget 2025 for failing to deliver for schools and children with additional educational needs:
Cllr Walsh said:
‘It is simply ludicrous that the Government has announced €9 million for mobile pouches, but no funding to reduce class sizes and has failed to resolve the crisis for parents and children with additional needs. This Budget has delivered a higher allocation for mobile phone pouches than the increase in primary school capitation and has no specific allocation to reduce class sizes for the second year running – at a time of a record surplus, the Government has blatantly ignored the real needs of primary school children, parents and schools. Generating positive headlines was more important for Minister than solving real problems facing our schools.
‘The Government has presided over a national scandal in education for children with additional needs, which has been shamefully neglected in recent years. 20 children with additional needs in Dublin 15 had no appropriate school place as late as July this year.
The measures announced in the budget speeches yesterday for special education repeat promises of more SNAs and special education teachers made many times before – each time, children with additional needs have been left without appropriate places (or sometimes any places) in primary and second level schools and teachers have been left to their devices to support vulnerable children. The Minister for Education should clarify:
- whether her Department will commit to delivering new special school classes and support for special schools to ensure that no child is left waiting for a place next September.
- whether the new measures will reverse the actual cut by 68% in the proportion of special education teachers in Dublin 15 national schools in 2024-25.
- Whether schools will actually receive meaningful specialised support from essential services which is currently simply not there to ensure that inclusive education can be provided.
The Budget was a massive missed opportunity to prioritise education and fails to give schools the essential resources they need to guarantee an inclusive future for our children. The Minister has still not recognised the scale of the crisis in special education and gimmicks and headlines will not produce school places. The Government should clarify immediately whether they are willing to use the unprecedented resources at their disposal to support schools and solve the devastating crisis in special education.