The Union of Students in Ireland has criticised the Government after a new OECD survey found that Ireland continues to rank close to bottom in terms of spending on education.
The Education at a Glance 2010 report, published yesterday, shows Ireland invests about 4.7 per cent of its GDP on education compared to an OECD average of 5.7 per cent.
Only the Czech Republic, Italy and Slovakia rank worse than Ireland in terms of education spending among OECD countries.
Reiterating its call for increased funding for third level education, the USI said it was unacceptable that the greatest disparity between Ireland and other OECD countries was in funding for third level education.
USI president Gary Redmond said the report clearly illustrates that the Government's commitment to education and the creation of a smart economy is "all talk and no substance".
"Third level education in particular has suffered from persistent under-funding over the course of the last decade, and this fact is clearly illustrated in the report,” he added.
The report, which features data on all OECD member countries and eight non-OECD States, shows that spending on education in Ireland has fallen back significantly since 1995 when the country invested 5.2 per cent of GDP on education.