Abortion a factor in sharp drop in number of children starting school, says TD

The number of children enrolling in Irish primary schools has seen a sharp drop, a new report from the Department of Education has shown.

The report, released this month, shows that enrolments in primary level, while peaking in 2018, have decreased every year since then – while enrolments in post-primary education continue to rise shortly, up 43,439 between 2018 and 2022.

Peadar Tóibín, party leader of Aontú, claimed that the fall in children starting primary school is linked to Ireland’s rising abortion rate. The latest figures estimate that over 10,000 abortions took place in the State last year, a figure which pro-life groups described as “alarming.”

Ireland has witnessed a surge in the number of abortions, since the majority of the electorate voted to repeal the eighth amendment in 2018. In total, 8,156 abortions took place in 2022 under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. 

This stands in comparison to 4,577 abortions in 2021, 6,577 abortions in 2020, and 6,666 abortions in 2019, the first year of Ireland’s abortion regime. The surge in numbers has sparked fears from pro-life campaigners that the rate will continue to go up.

Speaking to Gript on Friday, Peadar Tóibín framed last year’s estimated 10,000 abortions in the context of school classes.

“10,000 abortions is the equivalent of losing 400 classrooms of schoolchildren to abortion in one year,” the Meath West TD said, adding: “It’s heartbreaking.”

5 years after abortion was legalised there has been a sharp drop in the number of children starting school. It's heart breaking. https://t.co/vnMa3G86gx

— Peadar Tóibín TD (@Toibin1) April 19, 2024

“It’s very clear that abortion rates have quadrupled in Ireland since the constitutional referendum. We’ve seen abortion rates go from 2,500 to 10,000 annually in the space of five years. That has to have an impact on the number of children born in Ireland,” Deputy Tóibín said.

“Now we are seeing a significant drop in the number of children going to primary schools. This is heartbreaking, and this is, unfortunately, exactly what we said would happen in advance of the referendum.

“85 per cent of abortions in this country are happening because of socio-economic circumstances. A supposedly ‘pro-choice’ government is implementing policies that make women feel as though they have no choice. We are calling on the government to take action to address this problem.”

“Many mothers feel as if they don’t have a choice, and that is because of the economic policies of a government who say they are ‘pro-choice.’ That has to change,” the TD said.

The Department of Education report projects a decline in the number of pupils in primary school in Ireland from about 558,000 this year to about 533,000 in 2026 and about 499,000 by 2030.

The report references a year-on-year increase in enrolment numbers as a result of increased upward migration – including thousands of pupils from Ukraine enrolling in Irish schools. Last month, the Department confirmed that some 18,291 Ukrainian pupils had been enrolled in schools across Ireland at the end of February this year.

Of that figure, 11,358 had been enrolled in primary schools – while 6,933 pupils from Ukraine had enrolled in post-primary schools.

The report notes: “Enrolments in primary level having peaked in 2018 and decreased every year since then have reversed the trend in 2022, while those in post-primary continue to rise sharply, up 43,493 between 2018 and 2022.”

A breakdown of figures shows that 567,772 children were enrolled in primary schools here in 2018, with this figure dropping to 567,716 in 2019. 2020 saw a decline, with 561,411 children enrolling in primary schools that year, while this figure dropped further to 554,788 in 2021.

Primary school enrolments increased in 2022, with 558,143 children enrolling, which was still 9,629 less student enrolments compared four years previously in 2018.

The projected number of post-primary pupils is expected to increase from about 417,000 this year to about 430,000 in 2026. The figure is then projected to fall to 418,000 pupils in 2030, according to the government report.

Average class sizes in primary schools have also become smaller. While the average class size was 24.3 in 2018, it now stands at 22.8.

While the number of children starting school has seen a drop, the total number of teachers has risen by over 8,258 since 2018, from 65,815 to 74,073. The pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools has fallen from 15.2 to 13.4 since 2018, while in post-primary schools it has fallen from 12.7 to 12.5.

There were 37,341 primary teachers in Ireland in 2018, which jumped to 41,623 in 2022. The number of post-primary teachers has also increased, up from 28,474 in 2018 to 32,450 in 2022.

The report also shows that the number of students with special educational needs in mainstream primary and post-primary schools have risen substantially in recent years, as has the number of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs).

There were 7,722 children in special schools in 2018, with this figure increasing to 8,424 in 2022. Students in special classes in mainstream primary schools jumped from 6,229 in 2018 to 10,123 in 2022, seeing a steady increase.

While there were 4,877 special needs assistants employed in 2018, this figure peaked at 19,219 in 2022, of which the vast majority (12,242) were in primary schools.

Concerns come after Irish births dropped 13 per cent in a year, while the EU-wide total fell below 4 million for the first time on record. Ireland’s birth rate is now the lowest it has been in over 60 years, according to EU figures.

The State saw its steepest decline in fertility rates in 2022, falling from 1.78 live births per woman to 1.54 a year – a fall of some 13.5 per cent, according to figures published by the European Commission last month.

In 2020, 55,959 babies were born in Ireland, which increased to 60,553 in 2021. In 2022, that figure dropped to 54,411 births. Since 2011, the fertility rate in Ireland has decreased from 2.03 births per woman to 1.54.

While Ireland once had the highest fertility rate in the EU for most of the period between 1998 and 2011, it now sits just above the EU average, five years after abortion was legalised.

It is not the first time Meath West TD Tóibín has highlighted a jump in the number of abortions. Speaking before then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last April on the day the Abortion Review was released, Deputy Toibin said the equivalent of 1,120 classrooms of children had been aborted, describing it as “catastrophic.”

“The Government persuaded many thousands of people to vote for the abortion referendum on the basis there would be some safeguards for children, yet five years later, it looks like the Government is going to wash away the remaining safeguards,” he said.

Mr Tóibín referenced what he called an “enormous” jump in the number of abortions, citing a 25 per cent increase.

“Approximately 8,500 unborn children were aborted last year, which is an incredible figure, nearly three times what it was in 2017.

“Since the legislation was brought in, 25,000 unborn children have been aborted, the equivalent of 1,120 classrooms of children. It is catastrophic for each one of those children. 

“It now looks as though the three-day wait, which has saved thousands of lives, is under threat and the ability of the majority of doctors to refuse to carry out abortions on the basis of conscientious objection will be threatened. The Taoiseach said in this Chamber that he accepts that “the unborn child is a human life with rights.” Is his Government about to delete the few remaining rights unborn children have?” he asked.