I move:
That a sum not exceeding £70,594,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1985, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Education (including the National Library) for certain miscellaneous educational and cultural services and for payment of sundry grants-in-aid.
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, in introducing these Estimates it is necessary to spell out a great many figures to the House and I will, of course, follow that precedent at the beginning of my statement. However, I am glad to say that the major part of my contribution today will be a strong and positive statement of progress, reform and movement, all achieved with the help of my civil servants, both administrative and professional, in the Department, with the co-operation of teachers and school management, and with the increasing involvement of Irish parents.
We have completed two and a half years of hard work which has seen unprecedented progress in education in all its spheres. We have seen education taking a prominent place in political debate and Government policy. We have seen expenditure on education breaking the £1 billion barrier, and we see our school and college population at an all-time high and growing rapidly.
I look forward to the contributions from all parts of the House and would only ask one thing — that Deputies should identify where additional funds will come from if they ask for additional services. Despite the offence this request caused to some Deputies last year, I believe it is a reasonable request to make. It is, after all, one thing for particular interest groups outside this House to press their own case — which is their right — it is another to have Deputies inside the House simultaneously demand lower taxation and bigger spending.
Now, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I will turn to the money figures and policy measures contained in our Estimates. The total gross provision for 1985 in the five Votes of the Education group of Votes is £1,004.5 million including £69.9 million as appropriations-in-aid. The comparable provisional outturn for 1984 is £953 million, including £48 million as appropriations-in-aid. The amount being sought for 1985 represents an increase of £51.5 million or 5 per cent over the 1984 provisional outturn.
In addition to the provision sought in these five Votes, a sum of £27 million is being provided from youth employment levy funds towards the cost of vocational preparation and middle level technician courses. The total overall amount being provided for the education services is thus £1,031.5 million — £53 million or 5 per cent more than the comparable 1984 figure of £978.5 million.
The gross capital provision for 1985 is £95.2 million an increase of £13 million or 16 per cent over 1984. The gross non-capital provision is £909.3 million as against £870.8 million for 1984, an increase of £38.5 million. The gross provision for pay and pensions is £724 million, an increase of £13.2 million or 2 per cent over the 1984 provisional outturn. Pay and pensions in 1985 will account for 79.6 per cent of the total non-capital expenditure as against 81.6 per cent in 1984. The provision for 1985, however, does not provide for any increases in pay and pensions under the 24th round. The cost of the 24th round pay increase will be met from Vote 49 — the Vote for Increases in Remuneration and Pensions. The provision for non-pay, non-capital expenditure is £185.28 million, an increase of 16 per cent or £25.3 million over 1984.
The detailed estimates set out in the various subheads of these Votes for the different schemes and programmes operated by my Department have been framed in accordance with the objectives and within the parameters set out for the three years 1984 to 1987 in the national plan Building on Reality.
The substantial rate of growth in pupil numbers at first and second level which has placed such a strain on resources in the recent past is now weakening. Over the next three years an overall increase of 5 per cent per annum is expected in the numbers at primary level and 2 per cent per annum at second level. Numbers at third level, however, will continue to grow at a much faster rate, at around 4 per cent per annum. The drop in the birth rate since 1981 is such that in the school year 1987-88 the stock of pupils in national schools will have reached its peak. Thereafter, it will fall significantly and by 1990-91, it is projected that the reduction in the stock of national school pupils will be of the order of 6,000. By 1995-96, it is projected that there will be a drop of some 60,000 in enrolments in national schools. The drop in the birth rate will not be reflected in the enrolments in post-primary schools until the mid-nineties and later still at third level.
In addition to providing for the extra number of pupils in 1985, provision is made, despite the financial stringency, for directing additional resources to a number of special areas. These are:
At primary level: the continuance of the special fund for the disadvantaged; the provision of additional remedial teachers in areas of special need; an increase in the grants under the national school libraries scheme of over 50 per cent; additional investment in inservice training; an increase in capitation grants towards the running costs of national schools of 5 per cent; an increase of 33? per cent in the rate of capitation grant for all-Irish schools.
At post-primary level: The scheme for the provision of remedial teachers terminated in 1979 is being reintroduced; Additional guidance posts are being sanctioned in disadvantaged areas; The provision for the free books scheme is being increased; Investment in inservice training is being increased; The expansion of ESF-assisted courses in second level schools is being undertaken.
At third level: The level of real resources being made available in 1985 is in accordance with the commitment to increase real resources by almost 5 per cent by 1987. Improvements are being made in the higher education grants scheme. The maintenance grant will be increased by 10 per cent in real terms that is by 16 per cent overall and income limits for eligibility by 5 per cent in real terms i.e. by 11 per cent overall from September 1985. A tapering mechanism for the first time will be introduced to provide part of the tuition fee to those just outside the normal income limits for eligibility; ESF-assisted middle level technician courses in RTCs and colleges of technology are being greatly expanded.
Adult Education: A sum of £150,000 is being provided in 1985 as the initial step towards an allocation of over £1 million per annum by 1987 to enable VECs to provide courses free of charge in literacy and community education in disadvantaged areas and fully representative adult education boards are being established in each VEC area to oversee the adult education budget. At the beginning of that sentence there is an error. It should be an allocation of over £1 million in three years by 1987 is what we are providing for the special budget for community education.
Sport: As announced in the budget, additional funds for sporting activities are being provided. The total provision in 1985 is £1,360,000 compared with £1,196,000 in 1984, an increase of 13.7 per cent.
My colleague the Minister of State will later on be elaborating in greater detail on that area and many other areas under his direct control.
Capital: A substantial increase is being made in the provision for capital building and equipment particularly at third level.
I will now take the separate Votes. The first Vote that I am responsible for is that for the Office of the Minister for Education. A sum of £70.594 million is being sought for that Vote, an increase of 10 per cent over 1984. This Vote provides for the administration costs of the Department as well as for the National Library and miscellaneous educational services. The increase arises in the main from:
(a) the cost of the higher education grants scheme which will increase by 25 per cent from £11.3 million to £14.1 million in 1985;
(b) increased running costs of the school transport services which at £31.4 million will cost £1.821 million or 6 per cent more in 1985.
(c) provision for consultancy fees in subhead A5 and for the acquisition of hardware in subhead A3 in connection with the computerisation of the post-primary certificate examinations and for the running expenses of the Curriculum and Examinations Board in subhead D10;
(d) increases in non-pay provisions generally.
The administrative costs of the Department, which are provided for in subheads A.1 through A.4, will amount to £14.3 million in 1985, an increase of 1 per cent. These administrative costs represent only 1.4 per cent of the total gross provision being administered by my Department. By any standards that must be considered to be an amazingly low figure.
The grant-in-aid fund for cultural, scientific and educational organisations is being increased by over 200 per cent to £549,000, chiefly to allow for additional grants to organisations involved in adult education, and to provide for a once off grant of £250,000 to the authorities of the Dublin Zoo. I am glad to hear from the administrator of the zoo that thousands of young Dublin children and children from all over Ireland are enjoying free visits to Dublin Zoo during International Youth Year as part of the Government's initiative this year in helping the authorities of Dublin Zoo out of their particular financial difficulties. The funds for the National Library hitherto provided in four separate subheads have been included in one grant-in-aid subhead to allow for greater flexibility and show an increase of 32 per cent over 1984. These funds are mainly for the purchase of books and manuscripts for the library.
The net amount sought for the primary education Vote is £357.995 million, an increase of £10.4 million. Salaries, allowances and superannuation costs of national teachers' account for £317.1 million or 85 per cent of the total gross provision. There are 20,884 teachers serving at present in 3,400 schools. Provision is made for additional teachers as required to meet the anticipated growth in pupil numbers as well as some additional remedial teachers. Pensions and gratuties payable under the national teachers superannuation schemes will cost an estimated £41.3 million in 1985. A sum of £13.3 million is being provided for capitation grants towards the running costs of national schools. This allows for the rate of capitation grant to be increased by a further £1 per pupil, following on the increase of £4 per pupil in 1984, the largest single increase sanctioned since the current scheme was introduced in 1975. That £1 increase was in line with inflation this year, the £4 being nearly 30 per cent of an increase on the previous years. The payment of the special enhanced rate for pupils in special classes in ordinary schools will continue. That special rate was very much increased last year.
The special fund for the disadvantaged in primary education which I established for 1984 is being continued and £0.5 million is being provided for this purpose. Over 50 per cent more money is being provided for the primary school library service to ensure its continued viability. Under this scheme, grants are paid to local authorities based on the number of children enrolled in national schools in their areas to assist them in their endeavours to provide a special library service for national schools.
The special education project in Rutland Street is being continued. This controlled experiment in early education for children living in disadvantaged areas of central Dublin commenced in 1969 as a project jointly financed by the Department of Education and the Bernard van Leer Foundation of Holland. The project formally concluded and the van Leer funding ceased in 1974 but the special arrangements at the Ruthland Street schools have been continued as a resource base to assist in tackling the problems of educational disadvantage generally and in developing an appropriate curriculum for the disadvantaged at the all-important infant school age. Over 20 staff continue to be employed on the project and over 160 pupils are enrolled.
Financial assistance from the van Leer Foundation has also been received for the youth encounter projects in Cork, Dublin and Limerick. This funding has now ceased but provision for the continuation of the projects has been included in the Estimates for 1985.
A net £400.476 million is being sought for the Vote for post-primary education. In addition, £27 million will be provided from youth employment levy funds towards the cost of vocational preparation courses in post-primary schools and middle level technician courses in RTCs and technological colleges, bringing the total provision to £427.476 million.
Salaries and allowances of secondary teachers will cost £162.7 million in 1985. There are currently some 11,900 secondary teachers in receipt of incremental salary. Pension and gratuities will cost an additional £10.5 million.
Annual grants to Vocational Education Committees will amount to £105.4 million in 1985 or £125.4 million if one includes the youth levy subvention. This is an increase of 16 per cent over 1984.
The grants to secondary schools authorities — subhead C — show an increase of 10 per cent from £29.2 million to £32.2 million. The provision for capitation grants for all secondary schools has hitherto been in section (1) of this subhead and the supplemental grants payable in lieu of tuition fees to schools within the free post-primary education scheme in section (2).
For 1985 section (1) provides only for capitation grants for fee paying schools and section 2 contains provision for a composite grant based on enrolment for schools within the free scheme corresponding to both capitation and tuition grants. The tuition grant element of this composite grant is being raised from £100 to £105 per eligible student. The change to this new composite grant will save much paper work both in the Department and in the schools and has been widely welcomed.
An important feature of the past year has been the development of ESF-aided courses for vocational preparation and training in second level schools and the expansion of middle-level technician courses in the RTCs and colleges of technology. This represented a major breakthrough in the educational world. The vocational preparation and training programme was introduced in all types of second level schools in the school year 1984-85. This programme, which is a development of the earlier pre-employment programme, provides for vocational studies, work experience and general studies. It is initially a one year programme but it is intended to provide a second year for those wishing to pursue further vocational training. Some 16,100 young people are attending these courses which started in September 1984. A feature of the programme is the payment of an annual allowance of £300 to participants — 55 per cent of the cost of this programme is received from the ESF as appropriations-in-aid. The European Commission has also approved funding for a major expansion of the middle level technician programme in the RTCs and colleges of technology. Participants in this programme are paid an annual allowance of £400 if living at home or £1,000 if living away from home and are not required to pay tuition fees. These allowances will be increased to £464 and £1,160 from September 1985 in line with increases in the higher education grants. The numbers attending these courses have increased from 4,000 to 10,000 since autumn, 1984. The expansion of this programme means that the vast majority of students of RTCs and VEC colleges are now receiving State grants or scholarships.
As regards the vocational educational courses at second level, I have visited schools where these courses are in operation and I am told by the students, teachers and school managers that they have made an enormous difference to many young people who hitherto either dropped out or went on to an academic stream for which they felt unfit and which copperfastened the poor image they had of themselves. I am glad to report that these courses have meant a great deal to these young people and I look forward to an increased expansion of the courses next year particularly in the secondary schools system.
The net amount sought for the Vote for special schools is £3.938 million. The scope of the services provided for out of this Vote was reduced considerably by the transfer of responsibility for all but one of the residential homes to the Department of Health in 1984. Responsibility for the remaining residential home has been transferred to the Department of Health from 1 January 1985 and provision for the expenditure involved is being included in the revised Estimate for that Department. The amount now sought is mainly to meet the operating costs of the institutions for young offenders at Finglas, Lusk, Clonmel and Whitehall. Some £970,000 of the provision is for capital costs arising from final accounts for Trinity House, Lusk, further developments at St. Joseph's, Clonmel, and the provision of new equipment.
In the area of higher education, £101.8 million is being provided for this Vote. This is mainly for the current and capital costs of the third level institutions funded through the Higher Education Authority. The provision in the Vote does not represent, however, the full resources available to these institutions as it does not include fee income. Neither does this Vote represent the full range of higher education as the provision for the third level courses conducted in RTCs and colleges of technology is contained in the Vote for Post-Primary Education.
So much for the main details of the Estimates. I would now like to make some general comments regarding educational progress being made. First, I would like to tell the House of an extension of the areas of responsibility assigned to Deputy George Birmingham as Minister of State, a position which he has held in my Department, jointly with that which he holds in the Department of Labour, since January 1984.
In the Department of Education, Deputy George Birmingham is now responsible for adult and community education; co-ordination of education and training; aspects of youth affairs still handled in my Department; response to the educational aspects of the Costello report on youth policy and the National Library.
It is my intention that the work of these areas will be co-ordinated within a new community and education division within my Department and I feel that through this division the various areas which I have listed can be handled in a more effective and systematic way.
Before dealing with general matters, I want to refer briefly to some of the major happenings since last year's Estimates were introduced. The first year's progress report on the Programme for Action was published in January. That document speaks for itself. Action has been taken on most of the measures in the programme but it is by no means the end of the action. The progress made demonstrates clearly that we have achieved much despite our financial difficulties. It demonstrates, too, that the educational world is more than ready to respond when given the opportunity. Here I would like to pay a particular tribute to the staff of my Department who, in the best professional traditions of the Civil Service and despite the extra pressures imposed by reductions in staff numbers, have this proud record to their credit.
I was particularly impressed with the extent and the depth of the responses from the educational world to my publication of the document Ages for Learning. I have recently announced decisions on the important issues on which everyone — parents, managers, teachers and young people themselves — needed answers. Questions had been floating around for many years in the educational world and no Minister has tackled them or set out a process by which answers could be found. These decisions will have a major impact on the way in which education will develop to the end of the century. We have removed a source of injustice whereby some students, mostly in the less advantaged areas of education, were only eligible to have five years of post-primary education while others had six years. We have provided for a framework which is definite and consistent while being flexible enough to allow for curriculum development and reform. When fully effective, it is estimated that these measures will involve additional funding of some £20 million per annum. That funding arises from the fact that year by year schools will opt to take on this sixth year and gradually that will be included in each year's Estimates. As schools do so there will be up to 2,000 additional teaching jobs when the scheme is fully extended. I am glad to say that, as Minister for Education, I find myself in the position of being praised by not only management bodies but unanimously by all the teachers' unions as well since I announced that decision.