Fine Gael in government will use benefits of a strong economy to make life easier for families, they promised today.
The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh today set out Fine Gael’s plans to use our economic progress to make life easier on families and give children the best start in life.
He was accompanied by Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe and the Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty.
The trio set out Fine Gael’s plans to use our economic progress to make life easier on families and give children the best start in life.
Fine Gael in government will:
· Extend Parental Leave: We will provide a further seven weeks for paid parental leave in addition to the existing 2 weeks parental leave introduced in 2019. This applies to each child per parent, benefitting up to 60,000 parents every year. This will be in addition to existing maternity and paternity leave, so that by 2025 mothers can avail of 35 paid weeks and fathers 11 paid weeks.
· Extend Hot Meals in Schools: We are expanding the programme so that by the end of this year 42,000 children across the country will be provided with a hot meal every day. We will continue this level of expansion over the next five years, focusing in the first instance on providing hot meals to the most vulnerable children in our society.
· Free School Books at Primary Level: We will introduce a free school books scheme for all primary schools
· Student & Parent Charter Bill: We have published the Student and Parent Charter Bill, already progressing through the Oireachtas and commit to enacting it. Once enacted it will see more consultation with students and parents, publish school financial statements including details on how voluntary contributions are used and provide a fair complaints procedures.
Minister McHugh said Fine Gael is committed to removing barriers to education.
He said “We have already expanded the DEIS programme, taking in an additional 79 schools. We have expanded supports to children with special educational needs, increasing the number of SNAs to over 17,000, the number of Special Education Teachers by 225 to over 13,600 and the number of Special classes by 535 to 1839.
“We have also increased the number of teachers in our classrooms, bringing the pupil/teacher ratio at primary level to it’s lowest ever level. Fine Gael in government will introduce a free school books scheme to all children in primary school.
“We will enact the Parents and Students Charter Bill, giving parents and students a voice in their education. One by one, we will remove barriers to access to education, giving all children the opportunity to fulfil their full potential.”