IPPN

Published: 15 October 2008

Irish Examiner

By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

ONE step backward in order to take two steps forward is how Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe described a raft of spending cuts within his €9.6 billion budget for next year.

While he hoped that the €25,000 salary cut which he and ministerial colleagues are taking will help signal that everyone is sharing the burden, the level of cuts could make that a step too far for many people.

A €600 increase in third-level registration fees to €1,500 next autumn was described by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) as a cynical attempt to bring in fees through the back door without public debate.

Mr O'Keeffe promised that the increases would be reinvested directly in the third level sector, whose 2009 non-capital budget has been cut by €43m to €1.84bn, and that he expects to bring proposals on the possible reintroduction of fees to Cabinet within six months.

School transport charges are also rising significantly, by 80% for children up to Junior Certificate and 28% for older students, to €300 a year.

A €8.5 million saving in adult and further education will mean that 500 places are being axed from the Back to Education Initiative, despite the increasing numbers of jobless people seeking to improve their qualifications. Around one-in-10 of the 1,084 places in Senior Traveller Training Centres will be lost, while additional grants for schools catering for Traveller children have also been cut.

The minister's €581m school building budget is €5m less than this year's allocation but he said the department should complete more projects than before in 2009, with tenders currently coming in between 15% and 20% cheaper than at the height of the building boom.

Mr O'Keeffe said he expects to provide an extra 50 staff to the National Educational Psychological Service next year out of an extra €10 million being allocated for pupils with special needs. Grants for school running costs will rise by 12% to €200 per pupil at primary level, and by 4% to €345 per pupil at second level, with an additional €8 per pupil for voluntary secondary schools.

• 400 teaching jobs axed.
• College registration fees up 66% to €1,500, student grants frozen.
• School bus fees rise to €300 (80% increase for some children).
• Leaving and Junior Certificate fees up 8% to €109 and €103.
• A total of 500 fewer places under the Back to Education Initiative.
• No payment to schools for substitute teachers to cover uncertified sick leave.

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