Free primary schoolbooks and one-off €1,000 cut in third level contribution fee announced

Free primary schoolbooks for all children from next September and a reduction in class sizes are among the key education measures announced in Budget 2023.

There is also a €100 million package aimed at supporting schools and school transport providers to deal with the rising cost of energy.

This is expected to include an increase in capitation payments for non fee-charging schools. Minister for Education Norma Foley is due to outline further details on Wednesday.

At third level, there will be a once-off €1,000 reduction in the €3,000 student contribution fee for most higher education students in recognition of the rising cost of living. Apprentices who are subject to the student contribution fee will also see costs reduced by a third.

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For thousands of students in receipt of maintenance grants, there will be a once-off double payment — equivalent to one month’s payment — made to Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) recipients this December.

There will also be a once-off increase of €1,000 in the support to Susi-qualified postgraduate students — increasing from €3,500 to €4,500 — while the stipend paid to PhD students in receipt of Science Foundation Ireland or Irish Research Council awards is also being increased by €500.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said the measures were a response to the financial pressures facing students and their families.

“We are putting money back into the pockets of students and their families straight away,” he said.

In addition, the student maintenance grant will increase by a minimum of 10 per cent from January. This is equivalent to several hundred euro, depending on the level of grant support. For example, about 10,250 students from the poorest households will see grant increases of about €850 per year.

For the higher education section as a whole, an additional €150 million is being made available over 2022 and 2023, including €40 million to tackle a deficit in core funding.

Mr Harris said these measures would deal with significant cost pressures facing the sector.

In schools, meanwhile, hundreds of additional teachers will be hired to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio at primary level and meet demographic demand at post-primary.

At primary level an additional 370 teachers will bring the pupil-teacher ratio down from 24:1 to 23:1, the lowest on record, while an additional 296 teachers at second level are needed for the growing student population.

In special education, increased funding will see the creation of 234 special classes for pupils with additional needs.

This investment will result in an additional 1,194 special needs assistants being hired next year, bringing the total to more than 20,000.

There will also be an additional 686 special education teachers spread across special classes, mainstream classes and special schools.

The overall budget package received a mixed response from teachers’ unions and university representatives.

While the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) welcomed moves to tackle immediate costs, it said it did not go far enough to address the “chronic underfunding of primary education through permanent changes to the capitation grant”.

Similarly, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) said the measures went “nowhere near” remedying the damage caused by unrestored cutbacks, while the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said there was nothing to reduce large class sizes at second level.

At third level, the Irish Universities Association said the amount provided for the deficit in core funding — at €40 million — is “very disappointing”.

It said this represents just 13 per cent of the €307 million gap in funding identified by Government and called on Ministers to accelerate their response to the funding “crisis” in the sector.

The Technological Higher Education Association — which represents technological universities and others — said it broadly welcomed the budget measures.