I will speak in my capacity as education spokesperson for my party. As we have mentioned previously, we are a constructive Opposition, and I think that it is important to welcome things when they are done right. Therefore, first, I take the opportunity to commend the Education Minister on the significant amount of funding that his Department has allocated for special educational needs. It certainly is heartening to see that he has taken this seriously and to see the energy that he has in securing the capital funding necessary to expand our special schools. Both he and Mr Robinson, who is a constituency colleague of mine, have done great work alongside me and other constituency colleagues in looking at the challenges facing Rossmar special school and, of course, Sandelford special school.

On top of that, I welcome that £43·7 million has now been provided for the pay and grading review. There is a serious need to ensure that the staff who work with young people each and every day are adequately paid for the work that they do.

However, while there has been a welcome lift in those areas, serious shortcomings remain in the provision of SEN and other aspects of the Education budget. In real terms, Northern Ireland has seen a decrease in education funding of up to £145 million in the past 11 years. Funding per pupil has seen a decrease of 11%. The 2023-24 budget was down 2·5%. We have seen a planned raise of 6·5% in England over the same period. Evidently, education in Northern Ireland is the least funded across these islands. More needs to be done to ensure equitable funding for young people here and their future.

We have had some really interesting opportunities to engage on the Education Committee. I have really enjoyed it. We had the chance to meet the different representatives from the independent review of education panel, such as Dr Keir Bloomer. The panel said that Northern Ireland has the potential to be a 21st-century success, but only if it invests adequately in its education system. Regrettably, I feel that the Executive have failed to secure the funding that is necessary to build such a system. It also remains somewhat unclear now as to how we can make meaningful progress without such funds.

Each and every Member whom we have heard from across the House has genuine and good intent. We want to work with what we have. However, I fear for how schools will get on. I have spoken to teachers, principals and parents. Schools are really struggling. I will come to that later in my comments. Of course, we have seen the pressure that integrated schools were under after cuts to their funding. It caused severe anxiety. Schools were getting ready to, essentially, have work done and were told overnight that the money, which was initially ring-fenced, was being taken away from them. I will just echo the sentiment that schools can operate only with what they have. When we pull money from them, it is like pulling a rug from underneath them. They cannot plan ahead. That has a detrimental impact on schools, school communities and, of course, students.

The independent review of education panel stated bluntly that an educational crisis is looming. A staggering £291 million is needed each year if that crisis is to be averted. Currently, while great work is being done by the Education Committee to advocate for the changes that are required, there is an obvious limit to what can be achieved in the absence of those desperately needed funds. Whilst it is often said that schools manage well — exceptionally well in some circumstances — despite insufficient funding, the failings are really now impossible to hide and are having a direct impact on our ability to deliver a top-tier education service.

What does that look like? At the moment, the reality in Northern Ireland is that we are seeing increased class sizes, increased pupil:teacher ratios, decreased subject choice and, of course, a narrower curriculum, and acute shortage of available supply teachers. One thing that, I think, we all know is that, in our communities, we have incredibly bright and talented young people who have just qualified as teachers. We see that they have an appetite to go down South or to places such as Canada or Australia. We have touched on that in previous debates in the House. We want to do all that we can to keep them here. It is important to keep that in mind when we talk about future planning in the education system.

As recently as this morning, the Education Committee, in an informal briefing from PlayBoard NI and the Mae Murray Foundation, talked about the regrettable state of play areas in public parks and schools. We are aware that 22% of young people in Northern Ireland have special educational needs. We recognise the urgent demand and dire need for inclusive play facilities to allow children the human right of play. Currently, too many play facilities are designed without considering children with complex needs. In order to remedy that, it is important that the Department considers that when anything moves forward and that adequate funds are provided to ensure that young people, whether it be for their education or education through play, are adequately funded and that inclusive play is a priority.

The Committee also heard about an issue that is on the rise as we approach the summer months. I have spoken to a number of parents in the Claudy and Limavady areas who are rural based and have children with special, complex needs. They feel that there is a lack of investment in inclusive summer schemes that can ensure that a child, whether they have a physical disability or other kind of disability, can be included in play through summer schemes. Today, when we are talking about the Budget, it is vital that we be mindful of disability and the additional money and resource needed to ensure that every child has a good education and can be included in play, as is their right. It is vital that the Department take those concerns seriously and work to secure the capital needed to facilitate those schemes in the future.

Members will be happy to know that I am almost done. The Minister will be aware that there are serious concerns around the mental health and, most importantly, well-being of our young people. We have talked in the Committee and the Chamber about the cutting of funding to Happy Healthy Minds. That has been the most devastating loss for young people across Northern Ireland. We are talking about a service for young people who were in the most harrowing and horrific of situations at home. They may not have had the language to communicate the abuse at home, but, through song, dance, play and conversation, they were enabled to open up and share what was going on. It is undeniable that that has been beneficial for their academic achievements and outcomes. We need to take the ending of that programme very seriously when we talk about a Budget. I have the most deep-rooted concern. There needs to be a serious conversation that recognises that Northern Ireland has the highest suicide rate across these islands. The Budget needs to ensure that we are doing what we can to prevent that from continuing and to ensure that we are building up our young people and providing them with counselling services inside and outside school campuses via investment in our health services.

Additionally, the axing of the holiday hunger food grant stands out as another serious blow to our most disadvantaged families, who are struggling to meet the cost of living this summer. My colleague Mr Durkan, who is sitting behind me, touched most eloquently on the importance of tackling poverty in Northern Ireland. We do not have an anti-poverty strategy, and we in the North need to prioritise that. The child poverty statistics are heartbreaking. It is a failure of each and every one of us if we do not make that an absolute priority. It is important to raise that today, because I worry about how the Budget will impact on children and young people overall. We all share the same hope and desire to build a world-class education system and to safeguard the health and well-being of our young people, but more must be done if that is to be a reality.

As we approach the general election in the coming days, it is imperative that the Department engage with the new Government in Westminster. I urge the Minister to commit to securing the vital funds that are required to mend a system that is approaching collapse.