C&AG: 'Structural underfunding' in education would have led to fewer teachers and SNAs

The view of the Department of Education's accounting officer, Bernie McNally is noted: 'Education policy is well established and grounded in Government decisions over many years. The policy is bound by and reflects children’s constitutional and legal rights.' Stock picture

"Structural underfunding" in education last year would have equated to 6% fewer teachers, 10% fewer SNAs, and 66,000 fewer pupils on school transport services.

The detail is included in a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), published on Wednesday, examining budget control for the Department of Education.

Its finances were put firmly in the spotlight earlier this year, as several government departments, including Transport and Foreign Affairs, were hit with levies by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) to recoup a supplementary payment of €646m it received.

This is to cover what DPER deemed an 'overspend' in education. Changes to the Government’s budgetary practices mean that overspends are no longer covered by supplementary budgets but must instead be absorbed by other departments.

Since 2021, the Department of Education has required substantial supplementary estimates each year, ranging from €320m to €1.088bn, the C&AG report notes.

For 2025, the original gross expenditure allocation was €11.928bn, it said.

"This was substantially less than the funding sought by the department during the estimates preparation process."

A substantial part of the required additional allocations is down to costs associated with special education. Proposed greater transparency about such costs "should facilitate better analysis of the cost drivers and better forecasting of expenditure", the report noted.

A "gap" between the Department of Education and DPER compounded over recent years, leading to a serious and growing funding shortfall situation, the report notes. 

Some of the factors influencing the positions of the departments included a "mismatch between expectations based on demographic projections and actual demand manifesting itself on the ground".

The report also details communication between both departments, beginning in 2025, and outlined some of the main disagreements between both departments around funding.

The view of the Department of Education's accounting officer, Bernie McNally is noted: "Education policy is well established and grounded in Government decisions over many years. The policy is bound by and reflects children’s constitutional and legal rights."

The department completed extensive analysis and costed policy changes required to stay within the reduced allocation provided by DPER, but such changes were not accepted.

"This is because the scale of the structural underfunding in 2025 would have equated to approximately 4,500 (6%) fewer teachers and over 2,500 (10%) fewer SNAs in schools, and 66,000 (36%) fewer pupils on school transport services."

The report notes "the budgeting situation is a shared problem and that there is a shared responsibility to try to resolve matters. This would require the recasting of the relationship between the two departments, with open and regular communication."

The education system is complex and "subject to many dynamic elements", but budgeting for it "should be amenable to reasonably effective financial modelling".