Catherine Murphy
Ceist:192. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education her plans to review the 1973 determination by her Department in respect of administrative time for teaching principals [27085/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool Staff
Ceisteanna (192)
Freagraí scríofa
Prior to 2022, principal release days were allocated on the basis of the number of mainstream teachers in the school.
As part of Budget 2022 measures, I ensured that all schools with a teaching principal have a minimum of 37 Principal Release Days. i.e. one administrative day per week. Schools with one special class have 4 additional release days, a total of 41 in the school year and schools with 2 special classes have administrative principal status. These allocations are set out in Circular 26/2022, which superseded previous circulars 19/2020 and 14/2001.
Schools may employ a substitute teacher for the day to facilitate the principal’s release day. Alternatively, schools may cluster their release days with other schools in order to create a full-time fixed-term post. For the 2024/25 school year, schools may combine their Special Education Teaching (SET) hours with principal release days in order to create a full-time post. The inclusion of principal release days in cluster posts allows for consistency in the teaching cover provided to schools.
School Funding
Ceisteanna (193)
Catherine Murphy
Ceist:193. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education her plans to enhance the ancillary grant for primary schools [27086/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation funding provided for general running costs and ancillary funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities, except for cases where a secretary is now paid from my Department’s payroll as per circular 36/2022.
The current standard rate of Capitation grant is €183 per student in primary schools. Primary schools with less than 60 pupils are paid the Capitation and the Ancillary grants on the basis of having 60 pupils.
In addition to these grants, €20 million in funding was issued in October 2023, to support all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. This funding was the first tranche of an overall additional €60 million funding announced as part of Budget 2024 measures designed to assist schools with increased day-to-day running costs such as heating and electricity. A further €40 million in funding was delivered in early 2024.
As part of the capitation package in Budget 2024 I am pleased to have secured €21 million as a permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and longer term with increased day-to-day running costs. This will support a permanent restoration of funding for all primary and post-primary schools from September 2024. This will bring the basic rate of capitation grant to the pre-2011 level of €200 per student in primary schools. Enhanced rates will also be paid in respect of pupils with Special Educational Needs. This represents an increase of circa 9.2% of current standard and enhanced capitation rates.
The ancillary services grant funding is currently under review to identify a method of standardising the grant for the longer term where school secretaries have moved over to a Department operated payroll. It is not possible to provide an estimated costing for an increase in this grant funding at present.
Any possible further increases will be part of Budget 2025 negotiations. While not wishing to pre-empt the outcomes of any future Budget negotiations or fiscal parameters agreed by Government, the Department of Education will continue to seek and prioritise the additional funding required to meet the ongoing costs of running schools as part of the annual Estimates process.
School Funding
Ceisteanna (194)
Catherine Murphy
Ceist:194. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education the rationale for not providing capitation parity for primary schools and her plans to amend that policy. [27087/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation funding provided for general running costs and ancillary funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities, except for cases where a secretary is now paid from my Department’s payroll as per circular 36/2022.
Schools also receive a range of other grants including Book Grants and Programme Grants.
The current standard rate of Capitation grant is €183 per student in primary schools and €316 per student in post primary schools.
Primary schools with less than 60 pupils are paid the Capitation and the Ancillary grants on the basis of having 60 pupils.
In addition to these grants, €20 million in funding was issued in October 2023, to support all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. This funding was the first tranche of an overall additional €60 million funding announced as part of Budget 2024 measures designed to assist schools with increased day-to-day running costs such as heating and electricity. A further €40 million in funding was delivered in early 2024.
As part of the capitation package in Budget 2024 I am pleased to have secured €21 million as a permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and longer term with increased day-to-day running costs. This will support a permanent restoration of funding for all primary and post-primary schools from September 2024. This will bring the basic rate of capitation grant to the pre-2011 level of €200 per student in primary schools and €345 per student in post primary schools. Enhanced rates will also be paid in respect of pupils with Special Educational Needs. This represents an increase of circa 9.2% of current standard and enhanced capitation rates.
It is difficult to make precise comparisons between the levels of grants paid and the actual costs of running schools at primary and post-primary level.
In general, post-primary schools are larger than primary schools. They have specialist rooms such as laboratories, workshops etc. This leads to higher unit costs for heat, light, power, maintenance and cleaning.
Any possible further increases will be part of Budget 2025 negotiations. While not wishing to pre-empt the outcomes of any future Budget negotiations or fiscal parameters agreed by Government, the Department of Education will continue to seek and prioritise the additional funding required to meet the ongoing costs of running schools as part of the annual Estimates process.
School Funding
Ceisteanna (195)
Catherine Murphy
Ceist:195. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education her plans to align primary education funding with the OECD average [27088/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As the Deputy will be aware, my Department’s voted estimate for capital and current expenditure for 2024 stands at over €10.9 billion. This represents an increase of over €2.8 billion or 35% since 2019. This is the third largest budget across Government, and the largest ever investment in our schools. This indicates the strong commitment to investment in education by this Government.
In the lead up to the 2025 Budget, as Minister for Education, I will continue to deliver on the priorities outlined in the Programme for Government and to continue to support the students, staff and families in the education sector. As I am sure the Deputy appreciates, it would not be appropriate for me to outline any more specific plans at this stage of the Budgetary process but over the last four years, I have delivered substantial increases in investment in our Education system, and I remain committed to this vision of a world class education system for all.
The OECD average, as referenced by the Deputy, is taken from the annual ‘OECD Education at a Glance’ report. This report uses GDP as the base against which to compare investment in education across different OECD members. As the Deputy will be aware, senior academics and other independent analysts have raised questions regarding the use of GDP as the most appropriate measure of the size of the Irish economy. To assist with this, my department published a paper on this matter in October 2022 to assist users of these statistics to understand this issue. This paper is available on www.gov.ie under OECD briefing notes.
This paper outlines how the very large increase of 34% in GDP between 2014 and 2015 raised questions about the usefulness of GDP as an accounting standard for Ireland and its distorting effects on measures such as spend per capita on education. In order to help in analysis of the Irish macroeconomy and in the derivation of other such development indicators, a special measure, GNI-Star (GNI*), which excludes these distorting factors by (for example) excluding the net profits of companies that have been sent abroad, rather than staying in the Irish economy. GNI* has been calculated by the Central Statistics Office (2016) and is available as a continuous series (alongside GDP) from 1995. For context, according to the CSO, in 2021 GNI* was about 30 per cent below the level of GDP. An indication of the more appropriate value of GNI* versus GDP is that GNI* is now being used instead of GDP in national policy for example, the National Development Plan, 2021-2030. The Department of Finance uses GNI* in meeting the Government’s European budgetary requirements with debt-to-GNI* figures rather than debt-to-GDP.
The briefing paper referenced above outlines how, using the alternative measure of GNI*, education expenditure in 2020 as a percentage of GNI* stood at 5.8%. This compares favorably to the OECD average for education expenditure as a percentage of national income, which stood at 5.1% in 2020. The document also looks at Ireland’s spend on education as a percentage of total Government spending and this also compares well internationally.
Special Educational Needs
Ceisteanna (196)
John Lahart
Ceist:196. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education if she will investigate the allocation of SNAs for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27092/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The NCSE have confirmed that the school applied for an exceptional review of its special needs assistant (SNA) allocation in October. This review was processed and the school received an increase to their allocation of 1.5 posts.
The school has since submitted an appeal which is currently being processed. The NCSE have been in contact with the school and expects to have the appeal concluded this week. The school will be notified of the outcome of the appeal without delay.
School Staff
Ceisteanna (197)
Willie O'Dea
Ceist:197. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 255 of 28 May 2024, if a duplicate of the notification can be sent to a person (details supplied), including a detailed statement of the months and dates of when the overpayment occurred; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27106/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I wish to inform the Deputy that staff from the Payroll Division of my Department are contacting the teacher concerned directly and will forward any documentation requested in relation to the salary overpayment.
Schools Building Projects
Ceisteanna (198)
John Lahart
Ceist:198. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education the status of a building project (details supplied) which was granted permission on appeal by An Bord Pleanála in 2021 and to make a statement on when she anticipates that building works can be approved by her Department; and when it ought to commence [27113/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of Architectural Planning - Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design, which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents.
All Statutory Approvals have been secured, and the Stage 2(b) Submission was received in the Department late Q4 2023, for review. The Department's Professional and Technical Team will review it as quickly as possible having regard also to the many other projects they have to manage for progression through the Department's pipeline.
I am pleased to advise the Department recently the School Authorities and their Design Team to begin the prequalification of contractors process, which will be carried out in parallel with the review of the Stage submission and the Departments due diligence procedures.
The next stage, subject to relevant Stage 2(b) approvals, will be Stage 3, tender stage. Projects are subject to relevant due diligence by the Department at each stage in the process, within the context of overall programme and budgetary parameters.
Department officials will continue to keep the school authorities updated on progress and next steps.
Schools Building Projects
Ceisteanna (199)
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Ceist:199. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Education the position regarding the Project Boyne school building initiative; how this bundle is being progressed; if it is to be split, how that will proceed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27128/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As the Deputy is aware, the six large scale projects being delivered for Project Boyne will be delivered across schools in counties Carlow, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow by the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) on a devolved basis for the Department.
These school building projects are flagship projects in their area and will provide new and modernised high-quality permanent facilities catering for over 5,750 students. This will transform the education infrastructure for these school communities both now and in the decades ahead, enabling students to benefit from purpose-built state of the art facilities.
The Department has issued authorisation to NDFA for the completion of the remaining work on the preparation of tender documents required for public procurement of building contractors for all six schools for the end of the year.
Given the scale of the 6 projects involved, the procurement strategy involves this being done for the end of the year through two bundles. One bundle involves Coláiste Chraobh Abhann in Kilcoole, Cross and Passion College in Kilcullen and the Patrician Secondary School in Newbridge. The other bundle involves the Franciscan College in Gormanston, Presentation De La Salle College in Bagenalstown and St. Mary’s College in Naas. Both bundles are very important projects for delivery and the procurement strategy is aimed at delivering these flagship projects in an effective and efficient manner that reflects the scale of investment involved. The NDFA will be engaging directly with the individual schools in regards to progressing these very important projects.
The status of all projects in the pipeline, including those at tender stage, is set out by County at (www.gov.ie) and is updated on a regular basis.
The delivery of these projects builds on the very good progress we are making in providing new and modernised facilities at schools throughout the country under the rollout of the Government’s National Development Plan.
School Enrolments
Ceisteanna (200)
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:200. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education to provide the current waiting list for the 2024-2025 school year at a school (details supplied); the number of places by which the school will be oversubscribed; the plans in place to resource the school to meet the demand for places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27132/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department.
As the Deputy may be aware, in order to plan for school place needs, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform my Department's projections of school place requirements.
While my Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by the following factors:
• Duplication of applications
• School of choice
• Single sex schools
• External draw
Notwithstanding the above, in some areas demographic pressures and other factors are driving a requirement for additional school places.
Having considered the projected requirements in each school planning area, my Department then makes an assessment of the existing capacity and identifies any requirement for additional provision.
Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may, be provided through:
• Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,
• Extending the capacity of a school or schools,
• Provision of a new school or schools.
My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.
The availability of places is a matter for each individual school in the context of their Admissions legislation. Enrolment data for previous school years is available on the Department website. Provisional enrolment data for the 2023/24 school year is available on the Departments website at www.gov.ie. The information requested by the Deputy is not available at this time.
Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.
There are currently a number of active projects at primary and post primary level in the Letterkenny school planning area which will increase capacity, including an extension project at Scoil Naomh Fiachra, Illistrin to provide for 16 classrooms and 4 SEN base. The project is currently at Stage 2b. In addition, there are extension projects for St. Eunan's College, Letterkenny and Errigal College to expand capacity to 1,000 plus 2 SEN and to accommodate LTPE of 750 plus 2 SEN. Both projects are at Stage 2b. The extension project for the referred school is currently at Stage 1.
The Capital Programme details the school projects that are being progressed under Project Ireland 2040. The current status of large-scale projects being delivered under Project Ireland 2040, may be viewed on my Department's website at, www.gov.ie and this information is updated regularly. In addition, a list of large-scale projects completed from 2010 to date may also be viewed on the website.
My Department will continue to keep the school place requirements in the Letterkenny school planning area as with other areas across the country, under review.
Special Educational Needs
Ceisteanna (201)
Thomas Pringle
Ceist:201. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Education if an application for the establishment of an ASD unit in a Donegal school (details supplied) has been received; when a decision will be made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27136/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
The NCSE has advised my department that the school referred to by the Deputy, which is an all girls school, recently expressed an interest in opening a special class.
The NCSE actively encourages expressions of interest from schools to open special classes, and I appreciate and commend the efforts taken by boards of management in expressing their interest.
When assessing the needs in the local area, the NCSE identify schools in the neighbouring vicinity with available special class vacancies and assess their capability with consideration to demographical and statistical data.
The NCSE recently contacted the school to advise that a special class has not been sanctioned for the 2024/25 school year. The NCSE advise that a co-educational school in the local area is currently meeting the local needs of children requiring a special school place. The NCSE acknowledge that circumstances may change, and they are committed to ensuring that both parents and schools receive the necessary advice and support. The local special educational needs organiser (SENO) remains available to assist and advise the school.
381 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE for the 2024/25 school year 267 at primary and 114 at post primary level. Of these, 12 are in Donegal, 9 at primary level and 3 at post primary. This brings the overall number of special classes in the county to 127.
The NCSE expect to confirm some additional classes very shortly to ensure that a sufficient level of provision is available. The NCSE is confident that through the provision of these classes and vacancies in existing classes there is sufficient places to meet the needs of all children known to them for September 2024.
Special Educational Needs
Ceisteanna (202, 203)
Alan Dillon
Ceist:202. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Education if she will provide a list of all schools in County Mayo to be sanctioned autism/autism spectrum disorder classes for September 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27137/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAlan Dillon
Ceist:203. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Education if she will provide a list of all schools in County Mayo that have applied for autism/autism spectrum disorder classes for September 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27138/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 202 and 203 together.
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
My department and the NCSE work closely in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places, work which is close to finalisation for the 2024/25 school year.
381 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE for the 2024/25 school year. Of these, 8 are in County Mayo, 3 at primary level and 5 at post-primary. This brings the overall number of special classes in the county to 73. The vast majority of these are autism classes. Attached is a list of these classes.
The NCSE expect to confirm some additional classes shortly to ensure that a sufficient level of provision is available. The NCSE is confident that through the provision of these classes and vacancies in existing classes there is sufficient places to meet the needs of all children known to them for September 2024.
I have asked the NCSE to ensure classes are established as a matter of urgency and to keep all families seeking class places updated on an ongoing basis to ensure their children can access the provision to which they are entitled.
Question No. 203 answered with Question No. 202.
School Transport
Ceisteanna (204)
Sorca Clarke
Ceist:204. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 281, 282 and 283 of 16 April 2024, the projected additional cost to the Exchequer each year from 2024 to 2030 respectively for the school transport scheme as per the phased implementation of the review, with a breakdown of the additional mainstream pupils and SEN pupils above current numbers that would be provided with school transport under this phasing each year to 2030; and the average annual per-pupil cost for transporting mainstream pupils and SEN pupils respectively from 2024 to 2030, in tabular form. [27139/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
It is estimated that an additional 100,000 children, above the current pupil numbers on transport, could be accommodated on the mainstream scheme by 2030, at which point due to demographics numbers will decline somewhat thereafter but with an expected increase of 80,000 pupils on current school year numbers by 2040.
The overall spend in 2024 for the school transport scheme is estimated at €444m. This cost includes the cost of implementing certain recommendations arising from the review. To achieve our ambition to expand and improve the scheme, i.e. that it carries 100,000 additional students, will require increasing costs over time to €672m in 2030.
If we do not implement the recommendations of the scheme, financial and economic modelling shows that the costs of the scheme will rise to €678m in 2030 in any case.
This is because the comprehensive set of recommendations if implemented will leverage four major factors:
• Creating opportunities for SEN children to travel on mainstream transport with the appropriate supports, should they so wish.
• Creating greater access to local provision for children with SEN so that they have to travel less distance to access appropriate educational provision for their needs.
• Decreasing demographics which will see spare capacity increase over time on the buses.
• Greater integration with public transport where appropriate.
The response to the Deputy's query is set out on the tables attached.
It must be noted that there are certain assumptions and projections used in compiling these costs, as follows:
It is assumed the current years’ costs are the base costs.
Costs will continue to grow at the current rate out to 2031.
Savings to be made on the SEN scheme are anticipated as a result of inclusivity on mainstream services, it is assumed in year 1 an uptake rate of 5%, increasing over the next four years to a 20% uptake rate in 4th year of implementation.
Is it assumed that costs associated with the reduction in parental fees and with additional services to cater for the increased demand brought about by the cost of living incentives, will be replaced by the review costs.
Ukrainian costs will continue as required.
Further detail in relation to the review can be found in the full reports which were published in February of this year. These reports are available at: gov.ie/schooltransport
Special Educational Needs
Ceisteanna (205)
Alan Dillon
Ceist:205. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Education for an update on an application for an autism class by a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27140/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
The NCSE have confirmed that the school referred to by the Deputy currently have one autism class. There are currently four students enrolled in this class and two places are available for 2024/25 school year. At this time there is no indication that a class will be required for the 2024/25 school year in this school.
My department and the NCSE work closely in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places, work which is close to finalisation for the 2024/25 school year.
381 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE for the 2024/25 school year. Of these, 8 are in County Mayo, 3 at primary level and 5 at post-primary. This brings the overall number of special classes in the county to 73.
The NCSE is confident that through the provision of these classes and vacancies in existing classes there is sufficient places to meet the needs of all children known to them for September 2024.
Special Educational Needs
Ceisteanna (206)
Jim O'Callaghan
Ceist:206. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education when the four autism classes announced for two schools in Dublin 4 (details supplied), which were announced in 2020, will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27153/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Project referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the department’s pipeline of school buildings to provide a four Classroom Special Educational Needs (SEN) base, a General purpose room and Ancillary under the department‘s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme.
I can confirm that this project recently received my departments approval to go to planning and the department now awaits a post planning (developed design) report from the school for review.
At this early stage, it is not possible to predict when a significant school building project of this nature will go to construction, nor when it will be completed, as progress depends upon many contingent factors that can arise.
My department will continue to engage with the school authority to provide practical advice and assistance on this much needed project.
Schools Building Projects
Ceisteanna (207)
Michael Ring
Ceist:207. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education the progress made in relation to accommodation works for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27154/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme, from the school in question.
The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year and where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation.
Officials from my Department's Professional and Technical Section visited the school in question, in order to determine the scope of the accommodation required in the school and the condition of the existing school building, which includes a listed building. The accommodation requirements at the school are now being considered on foot of this. My officials are regularly in contact with the school authorities in relation to this matter.
I can also confirm that the school in question has submitted a number of applications for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS). The application for funding to address the Life Safety Systems (fire alarm & emergency lighting) has already been approved and the remaining outstanding applications are being considered in the wider context of the schools accommodation needs. My Department is aware of the urgent nature of the works required and the school will be kept informed throughout the process.
School Funding
Ceisteanna (208)
Sorca Clarke
Ceist:208. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education if she will conduct an independent analysis of primary and post-primary school funding. [27155/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation funding provided for general running costs and ancillary funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities, except for cases where a secretary is now paid from my Department’s payroll as per circular 36/2022.
Schools also receive a range of other grants including Book Grants and Programme grants.
The current standard rate of Capitation grant is €183 per student in primary schools and €316 per student in post primary schools.
Primary schools with less than 60 pupils are paid the Capitation and the Ancillary grants on the basis of having 60 pupils.
In addition to these grants, €20 million in funding was issued in October 2023, to support all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. This funding was the first tranche of an overall additional €60 million funding announced as part of Budget 2024 measures designed to assist schools with increased day-to-day running costs such as heating and electricity. A further €40 million in funding was delivered in early 2024.
As part of the capitation package in Budget 2024 I am pleased to have secured €21 million as a permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and longer term with increased day-to-day running costs. This will support a permanent restoration of funding for all primary and post-primary schools from September 2024. This will bring the basic rate of capitation grant to the pre-2011 level of €200 per student in primary schools and €345 per student in post primary schools. Enhanced rates will also be paid in respect of pupils with Special Educational Needs. This represents an increase of circa 9.2% of current standard and enhanced capitation rates.
It is difficult to make precise comparisons between the levels of grants paid and the actual costs of running schools at primary and post-primary level.
In general, post-primary schools are larger than primary schools. They have specialist rooms such as laboratories, workshops etc. This leads to higher unit costs for heat, light, power, maintenance and cleaning.
Schools Building Projects
Ceisteanna (209)
Seán Canney
Ceist:209. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Education when an application for emergency works funding a school (details supplied) for the repair and replacement of the existing septic tank system which is no longer functioning will be approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27221/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The school to which the deputy refers submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for mechanical works. This application has been approved by and the school has been informed in this regard.