Budget 2027 - Education, Children and Families
Investment in education at all levels is essential in Budget 2027. Government must continue to support and integrate new pupils and address issues regarding a shortage of school places, particularly for students with special educational needs. Budget 2027 must prioritise Government commitments on pupil teacher ratios and investing in children and young people.
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
Ireland performs poorly when it comes to investing in early years and ECCE for three to five year olds. Social Justice Ireland proposes that Government allocate €26m in Budget 2027, to increase the capitation grant for ECCE providers by 10 per cent. In addition, Government should increase the subsidy for childcare provision for children under 3 years of age by €1 per hour (cost €9m).
Pupil-Teacher ratios, Special Education and Capitation grants
The Programme for Government contains a welcome commitment to reduce the pupil teacher ratio at primary level. Budget 2027 should set an ambitious target of reducing the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) by 1 point at primary and post primary level at a cost of €57m. Budget 2027 should see a 5 per cent increase in capitation grants at both primary and secondary level(cost €5m).
Budget 2027 should allocate €36m to provide an additional 200 additional special school places and €26m to increase the provision of places in special education classes in mainstream schools.
DEIS Schools at Primary and Post-Primary level
Continued support for DEIS schools must be a policy priority, with a suite of measures to address educational inequality including reduced PTR and class sizes, and sufficient ongoing resourcing available to support new ambitious literacy and numeracy targets. Social Justice Ireland proposes €10m to support the continued expansion of the DEIS programme in Budget 2027.
We also recommend the restoration of the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance to 2011 levels (€18m) and extension of the hot school meals programme DEIS post primary schools at a cost of €55m.
Extend the JCSP Demonstration School Library Project to all 232 post-primary DEIS schools on a five year phased basis at a cost of €5m in Budget 2027 and subsequent budgets.
Further and Higher Education and Training
An additional €20m investment in Further Education and Training to develop and expand apprenticeships and traineeships to meet future skills needs and advance the circular economy, particularly at a regional and community level with €1m to support a skills transfer programme for migrants.
An additional €50m in State funding in higher education is needed as a first step towards meeting the core funding gap of €307m identified in ‘Funding the Future’. Social Justice Ireland also proposes that Government allocate €48m in Budget 2027 to increase the maintenance grant by €1,000 to all full-time third level students; an increased allocation of €1m to the Fund for Students with a Disability in Budget 2026; and a €2m investment in additional apprenticeship and traineeship places for Traveller students.
We propose that €3m be invested in a Transition Skills Fund targeted at young people not engaged in education or training (NEETs) and people employed in sectors whose jobs are at high risk of automation. We also propose €5m investment for the Technological Universities to provide digital and green skills training, regional living labs and to address skills gaps at a regional level.
Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence are already having a disruptive influence on education, training and employment. Government should invest €1m to establish a Commission on the Impact of Digitalisation and AI with a focus on vulnerable groups.
Lifelong Learning and Adult Literacy
We propose €5m in Budget 2027 to expand the Human Capital Initiative and improve lifelong learning across all population cohorts. €5m per annum until 2030 in adult literacy - €3m to rollout the new Adult Literacy, Digital Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and €2m to fund ancillary and support services. An additional investment of €1.5m in Community Education.
Children and Families
Investment in Children and Families is an essential investment in our social and human capital. The Programme for Government contains welcome commitments in this area.
Child Poverty
Child benefit remains a key route to tackling child poverty and is of particular value to those families on the lowest incomes. In 2025, 16.9 per cent of children in Ireland were living in poverty. Social Justice Ireland proposes an increase of €20 in the Child Benefitpayment in Budget 2027 at a cost of €303m, €10 in the Child Support payments for children under 12 and €18 for children over 12 at a cost of €199m.
Families
Government should introduce an additional two weeks paternity leave in Budget 2027 at a cost of €17.3m and an additional two weeks of paid parental leave at a cost of €27m. To support child and family support services, Budget 2027 should allocate €25m additional funding to Tusla for child protection and increased social provision for children and families, while increasing the resources available for the regulation of childminders. €3m should be allocated to support delivery of the National Action Plan for the EU Child Guarantee.
Arts and Culture
Allocate an additional investment of €4m in funding for the Arts Council to embed arts and cultural participation as part of the ECCE framework. This investment would begin to address the large disparities in arts participation between children from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Financial Literacy
Social Justice Ireland welcomed the publication of Ireland’s first National Financial Literacy Strategy earlier this year. Budget 2027 should allocate an additional €2m to develop and resource a financial literacy programme aimed at school children and their families to complement the key objectives and targets of the strategy.