Micheál Martin admits there are issues within the Department of Education
There is ‘no question, there are issues’ within the Department of Education, the Taoiseach has said after it was forced into another embarrassing U-turn this week by having to reopen the application process for summer provision.
Summer provision gives educational support during the summer holidays to children with complex special educational needs and children most at risk of educational disadvantage.
This week, Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, raised the issue in the Dáil, saying that the application period was only one week this year, much shorter than in other years. And on Thursday, Pearse Doherty raised it again.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Pic: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
He said the scheme provided ‘structure, routine, stability and continuity’ during the summer months.
‘Yet, right across the State, families are now being told their children are going to be denied and will lose out on these vital supports because of a deeply unfair and badly handled decision by the Department of Education.’
He called for the application process to be reopened.
Simon Harris, the Tánaiste, confirmed that the application process would be reopened for another period to allow those schools that missed the deadline to apply for the services.
Tánaiste Simon Harris. Pic: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
He said: ‘This year, the application window for the July provision was open for just one week. In previous years, schools had months to complete this process. Many schools simply did not have sufficient time to process applications, gather paperwork, and complete registration before the portal closed. ‘
It represents the second U-turn for the department in a matter of months.
Earlier this year, it had to pause plans to reallocate Special Needs Assistants across the country after a political uproar over the issue, and, separately, the Department has received a €600 million bailout from the government, with other departments set to foot the bill.
Asked if he was happy with how the Department was being run, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said: ‘I mean, there are issues, no question.’
‘And we’re continuing to engage with the department, but to be fair, on the other side, on the capital side, we have expanded consistently over the last number of years, there will be a requirement for more capital as well.’
Micheál Martin. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photos
Mr Martin added: ‘That summer scheme is important. We started it some years ago. It’s had an impact. It was originally focused on children with additional needs and special needs, and so it’s important that those children get priority, and it has been expanded somewhat.’
‘So you know there have been issues, but I think some of it reflects the expansion and the growth in numbers requiring access to services, and so on.’
Another cabinet source said: ‘It wasn’t so much that it was a U-turn, it was the length of the window for applications. It’s a repeated trend in that department. There are multiple things.’
They said that the department needed to be ‘100pc’ more sensitive to these sorts of issues. ‘It’s turning a positive into a negative, they’ve got good at doing that.’
And this week, the Education Minister defended the €646million overspend in her department, blaming a ‘long-standing funding gap’ and increased demand for school places and staff pay.
Hildegarde Naughton was speaking at the Oireachtas select committee on Education and Youth, where she was challenged over 2026 revised estimates for her department.
Chairwoman of the Oireachtas CommunicationsCommittee HildegardeNaughtonPhotograph: ©Fran Veale
Last week, it emerged that several Government departments, including Transport, Foreign Affairs, and Communications, will be worst affected by the planned cuts to their budgets to pay for overspending in the Department of Education.
Ms Naughton said: ‘Our investment in education in this country has enabled us to continue to be recognised globally for the strength of our education system.’
She said there had been a net allocation of € 13.6 billion for 2026, and that her department had 114,000 public-sector employees. She said this included capital infrastructure, grants to schools, school transport costs, and €10.7 billion on pay and pensions.
A spokesman for the department said: The summer programme is well established for a number of years now, so even though there was a shorter window for applications, schools were prepared in advance, and the Department has received more applications for the school-based scheme this year than ran it in 2025, with increases across primary, post-primary, and special schools.’
However, they said the minister had listened to the public and the scheme would reopen for applications between the 2nd and 5th June.
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