Education:A 6 per cent increase for education spending is planned in the budget, bringing total spending in the sector close to €9 billion.
Spending on special needs education will exceed €870 million in 2008 .
The figures released yesterday show the level of funding required to maintain existing services, but they do not explain how any new commitments will be paid for.
Chief among these is a Government promise to progressively reduce class size to 24 within three years. Some 600 additional primary teachers will have to be recruited if the Government is to deliver on this commitment.
The main features of the pre-budget Estimates include:
an 18 per increase in funding for the third-level sector;
an 11 per cent decrease in building grants and capital costs for second-level schools;
a 26 per cent increase in provision for public-private partnerships and
a 9 per cent increase in teachers' pay and a 16 per cent increase in spending on teachers' pensions.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin yesterday said the 2008 Estimates for education reflected the major improvements that had been targeted at all levels of our education system, from primary right through to postgraduate level, in recent years.
The increases in teachers' pay and pensions reflected commitments made in the Towards 2016 agreement. More than 90,000 people - including 50,000 teachers - work in the education sector.
Ms Hanafin said the extra funding also maintained the Government's commitment to widening access and increasing participation in and the continued development of the higher education system.
The funding for universities and institutes of technology would allow Ireland to maintain the progress which had been apparent in recent years, the Minister added.
