“My focus in Budget 2025 is very much on school staff, parents and families. I meet parents the length and breadth of the country. I know how stressful, how challenging, and how difficult it can be for parents. One parent said recently to me that they felt like they are on a hamster wheel.

“So today in Budget 2025, I am announcing that the free schoolbooks scheme will cover all students, from primary school right through to completion of the Leaving Certificate. This will alleviate the financial pressure on parents of almost one million students.

“I know that finding special education school places can be an enormous stress for parents, so in this Budget, we are going to hire another 1,600 special needs assistants and 768 additional special educational needs teachers in classrooms. That will open up 2,700 new school places for children with additional educational needs.

“From my visits to schools across the country, I know that mobile phones in schools are an issue of huge concern to parents. I am going to provide funding to post-primary schools to get storage solutions so that students get a mental break from their phones during the school day.

“Clearly many parents feel under pressure to support their schools with voluntary contributions. That is why I am increasing the state funding for primary and post-primary schools – known as capitation grants – by 12 per cent. This will improve the funding that schools have available to them to cover their costs.

“We are also going to ensure that our schools continue to have a supply of excellent teachers, with Budget initiatives such as a new bursary for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths teachers, 1,000 additional school posts of responsibility, free upskilling courses for staff and funding also for the new primary curriculum and Senior Cycle Redevelopment.

“I am including two other significant measures in this budget to help parents with the cost of living. I am going to again exempt Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate students from the usual exam fees of over €100 next summer. And I am going to keep in the reduced school transport scheme fees in place for families – they will remain at €50 for primary, €75 for post primary and €125 for a family ticket.

“Overall, the education budget in Budget 2025 is worth almost €12 billion, the highest ever amount. I believe it will help reduce costs for parents and families as well as continuing to improve our vital education system.”

“Since being appointed as Minister with responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion last April, I have regularly engaged with groups representing children, their parents, teachers, SNAs, school leaders and special interest groups.

“These engagements have provided me with valuable insights and perspectives on the day-to-day challenges and issues within special education.

“It is these insights which have framed the Special Education Budget for 2025. The total funding package I have secured totals €2.9 billion. This represents a 6% increase for 2025, or €159 million.

“Funding for the measures being announced today comprises the biggest-ever commitment in financial terms to enabling students with special educational needs to prosper and flourish in our education system.

“Central to providing an appropriate school place for children with special educational needs is provision of special education teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs).

“This budget will result in an additional 768 special education teachers and 1,600 SNAs being employed to support children across mainstream, special classes and special schools.

“These additional posts will allow us to open another 400 special class places in both primary and post-primary for 2025, bringing the total number of special classes to over 3,700. It will also allow us to create an additional 300 places in special schools through expanding of existing schools and opening new ones where necessary.

“The Budget also provides €62 million in funding for the Summer Programme, which is of enormous benefit to some of the most vulnerable children in our society.

“Budget 2025 will also see targeted investment in assisting schools to manage the effective transition of children with the highest level of need from primary into post-primary education. Post-primary schools will also be resourced to assist them in the effective planning and support of these children.

“In recognition of the need to continually evolve and examine best practice to support children with special educational needs, a new special education innovation fund is being established in 2025. This fund will be used to advance some of the many interesting and worthwhile ideas put forward by groups I have engaged with, to improve and complement our education system.”

“As Minister for Sport and Physical Education, I am delighted to announce increased funding for the expansion of the Active School Flag programme in 2025 to support more schools to get more active, more often. I am particularly glad to confirm that the increased funding for the Active School Programme will allow for the full roll-out of the Active School Flag programme in post-primary schools.

"We know that staying active is of vital importance for physical and mental health, yet decreasing youth activity levels is a global problem. Our schools are ideally placed to be centres where young people are empowered to be more active and more often. I look forward to even more schools engaging in the programme and working towards the achievement of being awarded their own Active School Flag.

“As a government, we are working hard to deliver on our commitment to promote the personal health and wellbeing of our young people".