Education Plan 2025 prioritises student wellbeing

Introducing a new education therapy service, tackling pupil absenteeism and targeting smart phones in schools are some of the measures contained in Education Plan 2025, published by the Department of Education and Youth in June 2025.

With over 100 actions contained in the plan, measures include:

• Improving wellbeing in schools: Provide €9 million of funding for measures to tackle mobile phone use is schools alongside a comprehensive suite of mental health resources, and training for post-primary schools over the next two years. The rollout of the Counselling and Mental Health Wellbeing pilot will continue in primary schools.
• Reducing absenteeism: Amendment of legislation to bring children under six attending primary school within its scope to ensure earlier intervention.
• Improving school transport: An evaluation of pilot projects from the 2024/25 school place will take place with the introduction of e-ticketing. This is alongside an ambition to have an additional 100,000 pupils by 2030.
• Supporting parents and students: Legislation to provide for a new parent and student complaints procedure and support the establishment of student councils in both primary and post-primary schools.
• Support for leaders and teachers: Actions will be taken to support teacher professional learning and school leadership support for teachers and schools, with further actions to empower school leadership with resources, mentoring, and training.
• Focus on Gaeilge: A new policy will be published on Irish-medium education outside Gaeltacht areas and Irish in English-medium schools.
• A new common application system: Introduce a single application scheme for school admissions in several pilot schools in 2026.
• School buildings: Deliver on the National Development Plan commitment to upgrade infrastructure and provide school places with a particular focus on pupils with special educational needs and adding capacity.
• Reducing costs: A new circular for schools with an emphasis on reducing costs, such as school uniforms to be developed.

A new Education Therapy Service aims to build capacity of school communities to better support all children and provide therapeutic interventions children who require it.

In the 2025/26 school year, the Department aims to provide 90 therapists to work in 45 special schools, with a rollout to other special schools in 2026/27. It is intended that the service will rollout in special classes and mainstream schools at an unspecified time.

With just under one million pupils, 95,000 teachers and a budget of €11.8 billion, the Department of Education and Youth have a colossal task in educating Ireland’s young people. In the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment results, Ireland ranked highest in reading literacy with significantly above average results in both mathematics and science.

Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee TD states that the Department’s vision is to deliver a “world-class education system which breaks down barriers and ensures every child and young person can achieve their full potential”.