€55m overrun down to extra spending on substitute teachers

The cost of hiring substitute teachers to replace those on Covid leave has been cited as a factor in the higher-than-anticipated spending. File picture

Extra spending on substitute teachers has led to a €55m overrun by the Department of Education in the first three months of this year.

Minister Norma Foley has told her Cabinet colleagues that gross overall expenditure had reached €2.4bn by the end of March, which is €55m ahead of profile.

The cost of hiring substitute teachers to replace those on Covid leave has been cited as a factor in the higher-than-anticipated spending. More money than expected was also spent on school transport.

The department expects to also spend more on capital projects due to construction inflation and the need to address special education provision and to cater for Ukrainian children.

Separately, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly received Cabinet approval to abolish both overnight and day-case public in-patient charges for children.

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Mr Donnelly said: “Better access, together with affordability and improved quality are my top three priorities in healthcare. This legislation, when enacted, will ease the financial burden of parents/guardians when bringing their child to hospital for in-patient care, helping to ensure that cost is not a significant consideration for families when children require access to in-patient treatment.”

The Health (Exemption for Children from Public In-Patient Charges) Bill 2022 will do away with the existing acute statutory in-patient charge of €80 per night for all children less than 16 years of age in all public hospitals.

Mr Donnelly also got sign-off on expanding the flu vaccination programme to at-risk groups again this winter. Due to the ongoing potential risk of a Covid-19 surge during flu season, the decision was made to continue the expanded flu vaccination programme for another year.

Meanwhile, the Government has agreed to introduce measures that will mean the jury in the Stardust inquest are paid.

The Stardust families had raised concerns that jury selection could have been impacted if an arrangement wasn't made to pay members as the inquests are expected to go on for a number of months.

The legislation will require employers to continue to pay the wages of people summoned to serve on the Stardust inquests jury, similar to provisions for criminal and civil trial juries.

The measures will also allow the Dublin Coroner to seek the assistance of the Courts Service in selecting a jury for the Stardust inquests and will allow the jury selection process to operate in a similar way to civil and criminal court proceedings.

“I had promised to address the concerns raised, particularly by representatives of the Stardust victims’ families, with regard to the empanelling of a representative jury," Ms McEntee said after the Cabinet agreement.

Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath told colleagues that formal public sector pay negotiations will begin next week after successful exploratory talks.