MINISTERS TALK GOOD game about valuing teachers and supporting children, but time and again they fail to back it up with the resources needed.

We all know the routine by now – the millions here, the percentages there – rolled out as if repetition could disguise reality. But these so-called success stories only hoodwink a profession crying out for adequate resources.

Parents too can see plainly that our schools are not getting the investment they need. As the saying goes, the dogs on the street know it.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin is fond of accusing rivals of talking down Ireland. Let’s be clear: my members are not talking down this country or the children they teach. They are demanding the resources to support them properly.

And just as any good teacher would, we’ll be marking the homework of a government formed on the back of a raft of election promises in primary and special education – commitments we fully expect to see honoured in this Budget.

Last May, Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee stated: “My objective is to deliver a world-class education system that breaks down barriers and ensures every child is supported to achieve their full potential. We need to make sure schools have the resources.”

So, the stated objective is clear.

The trouble is, we’ve heard all this before.

In 2017, then-Minister for Education Richard Bruton set out his ambition to have the best education service in Europe by 2026. We’re a fair way away from that still.

Crucially, the current Programme for Government makes clear commitments to lower class sizes; a Deis+ Scheme for our most disadvantaged pupils; extra special schools and special classes, higher capitation grants and bespoke supports for small schools.

We’ll soon see in Budget 2026 whether Minister McEntee backs her words with action – or if talk is cheap.

Stretched to breaking point

Ireland ranks lowest in the OECD for spending per pupil as a percentage of GDP per capita. Despite being short-changed, Irish primary schools punch well above their weight in international achievement comparisons, but the reality is those achievements are – in large part – down to the hard work of school staffs.

The foundations may be solid, but the current construct is creaking at the seams. Major repairs are needed.

The primary capitation grant – the main source of Government funding meant to cover the basic running costs of schools – is woefully inadequate. Teachers are expected to do more with less, while children with additional needs are left waiting for support.

Ireland’s fragmented approach to the inclusion of pupils with additional needs in mainstream schools lacks cohesion due to the Government’s failure to match neighbouring countries who provide Special Educational Needs Coordinators for every school.

Class sizes

We have the most overcrowded classrooms in Europe with nearly 420,000 children being educated in classes larger than the EU average, and our small rural schools have been neglected for far too long.

Imagine how strong our education system would be if fortified by proper funding

The INTO’s pre-Budget submission calls for serious solutions.

A €75 per pupil increase in the primary capitation grant to ease financial pressures on schools and families would have a tangible benefit for the children of Ireland and their schools.

Considering her department announced this month that “the Government remains committed to reducing class sizes further,” Minister McEntee now has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally lower them to the EU average of 19 – a target acknowledged in the Programme for Government.

There is an easy way to achieve this. Overall pupil enrolment is projected to drop by at least 50,000 pupils during the current government’s term.

Although it appears that Department officials haven’t noticed, the solution to our overcrowded classrooms is staring the minister in the face: retain the current number of mainstream class teachers, and our class sizes will automatically drop to 19 at no additional cost to the exchequer.

A front-loaded reduction of two pupils per class in Budget 2026 – with proportionate reductions for DEIS Band One schools – is the minimum required if the Government is to stay on track for this Programme for Government target within its term.

Loose talk and tight purse strings?

The INTO has been consistent in our other demands. Yet many ministers have only been consistent in rewording the same commitments.

Our union has vigorously campaigned for a Deis+ scheme. Two weeks ago, the Taoiseach announced that this government was working on such a programme. We wait to see if or when it gets up and running. If that sounds pessimistic, it is not without reason.

Minister McEntee recently asserted: “The Government is very aware that small schools are an important part of the life of local communities.”

Six years ago, then-Minister for Education Joe McHugh pledged: “We want to find every possible way of helping small schools to move from surviving to thriving.”

Yet still our small schools – central to the identity and vibrancy of so many communities – continue to feel threatened.

The Programme for Government commits to introduce a new national small schools’ scheme to protect these school communities and develop new administrative supports. Is this another case of loose talk, tight purse strings?

Fianna Fáil’s Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, and Fine Gael’s Minister for Education have collective responsibility for securing a brighter future for Ireland’s primary school children.

Our esteemed president, Michael D Higgins, recently stated that “education is an investment in the future”. Is this Government willing to make that investment?

John Boyle is the General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation.