Noel McCarthy
Question:435. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide a response to correspondence from a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33056/26]
View answerWednesday, 6 May 2026
Questions (435)
Written answers
I thank the Deputy for his question. The correspondence referred to primarily relates to the provision of the Science Implementation Support Grant which issued in December 2024 to support schools with the rollout of the revised Leaving Certificate science subjects in the 2025/2026 school year.
This grant was paid to all schools in the Free Education Scheme with a minimum base payment of €13,000 up to a maximum of €24,200 based on four bands of enrolment with a further 10% uplift for DEIS schools. The correspondent in question sought to clarify the position of fee-charging schools in respect of the grant. This position was clarified in writing to the correspondent in early January 2025, and was again clarified in respect of this school by way of Parliamentary Question 56569/2025 in October 2025.
In both cases, it was clarified that fee-charging schools are not eligible to receive the Science Implementation Support Grant. This is in line with the approach taken by the Department in regard to a number of funding streams for schools such as the Post-primary Schoolbooks Scheme. This approach was communicated to all schools from the outset in the assets.gov.ie/static/documents/science-implementation-support-grant-guidelines.pdf published on 3 December 2024.
Grants such as the Science Implementation Support Grant are provided to schools in the Free Education Scheme as these schools are not able to derive an income from the charging of fees. Outside of teacher salaries, which are paid directly by my department, per capita grants such as the Science Implementation Support Grant are the main source of income for schools in the Free Education Scheme.
My Department officials will liaise with the school further to address the broader context of their concerns.