The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) today warned that damage to the education system rather than lifestyle choices are responsible for increasing numbers of young people on social welfare.

Speaking today, TUI President Bernie Ruane said:

"The recent description of the dole supposedly being a 'lifestyle choice' distracts from the very real issue of huge numbers of young people still being failed by the education system. Even in the boom years, student drop-out ran at an unacceptable level of about 20%. Education provision has been savaged over the last three years, with less resources for those students with special educational needs and a removal of incentives for schools to provide alternative programmes such as the Leaving Certificate Applied.

Perhaps most damaging for those on the margins, the number of year heads is declining rapidly as a result of the embargo on public service appointments. This means that whole year groups of students are no longer being monitored by a mentor, which results in what are often small problems escalating into much bigger ones and vulnerable students falling through the cracks as a result of the removal of this crucial pastoral support.

Failure to invest in education today will result in vastly increased bills in social welfare and in the prison service tomorrow. The education system cannot sustain further cuts."