'System is buckling': Budget must address second level school underfunding, says Cork teacher

The Government must use Budget 2026 as an opportunity to address the underfunding of second level education, a Cork teacher has said. It comes as a new report shows Ireland spends less than half the international average in the sector.

Speaking to The Echo, John Byrne, a teacher in Bandon and Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) standing committee representative, said the figures “show an appalling disregard for investment in education not just by this government, but by successive governments.”

Ireland is at the bottom of an international league table for government expenditure on second-level education as a proportion of GDP, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report published on Tuesday found.

In 2022, the year analysed in the OECD publication Education at a Glance 2025, Ireland invested 0.8% of its GDP in second-level education, compared to OECD and EU averages of 1.7%.

Bottom of the league

Ireland has remained at the bottom of the list of OECD countries for this indicator for a number of years. It is also below the OECD average for teachers’ starting salary, and salary after 10 years’ teaching experience.

Mr Byrne said while Ireland has always achieved a high standard of education, “the system is buckling” due to a lack of funding; a recruitment and retention crisis, and a new leaving certificate being rolled out that he said is “falling far short of promises”.

“The OECD report shows that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to reach higher levels of education, and while some schools have fancy buildings that will be well equipped for the more practical new senior cycle curriculum, other schools have old buildings that desperately need updates to teach this new course,” he said.

“If they are unable to do that, it will create a two-tier education system.”

He called for the situation to be turned around in the budget.

“The government are planning an increased spend and it will be interesting to see how much will be allocated to education.

“Our recent RedC survey shows a shortage of teachers with many leaving the profession... that’s due in part to a low starting salary, a huge workload, and inadequate facilities while dealing with the cost of living,” Mr Byrne said.

“The Government needs to take a long, hard look at this report and deliver a major financial increase if Ireland is to maintain its high level of educational status.”