Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education and Youth, Darren O’Rourke TD, says Minister Helen McEntee’s announcement of €65m for ICT and minor works grants for schools amounts to a cut of €14m on 2024. The cut means that funding for schools in Meath is down from €3.4m in 2024 to €2.7m this year. The Meath East TD said this is utterly shocking.
Teachta O’Rourke said: “This cut of almost €700,000 in funding for schools in Meath is a big blow to school principals, staff and students, especially at a time when schools are drowning under soaring energy bills, insurance costs and basic operational expenses. Slashing essential infrastructure funding is indefensible. “In 2024, the ICT and minor works grants totalled €79m for the entire state. This year’s funding, announced today, amounts to €65m. That’s a cut of €14m or almost 18% overall.
“It is even worse in Co. Meath. Funding is down from €3.4m last year to €2.7m this year, amounting to a cut of over 20%. It is utterly shocking. “This cut in funding will delay essential school repairs and investment and it will increase pressure on parents and school management to fundraise for finances to make ends meet. This will serve to deepen inequality as schools in disadvantaged areas will bear the brunt.
“In reality, it shows just how out of touch Minister McEntee and her colleagues are with the daily financial crisis facing our schools. Warm words are worth nothing, if all they are matched with is wholly inadequate funding. Warm words will not heat classrooms, fix broken roof tiles, playgrounds or modernise the digital tools students and staff rely on. “The Minister must reverse this €14m cut immediately. She must reverse the €700,000 cut in Meath. In addition, in line with the call of Sinn Féin and others, she must increase school capitation funding and introduce a ‘grant calendar’ with consistency from year-to-year. Schools need certainty.
“It is time for the Minister to wake up to the school funding crisis in Meath and right across the state.”
