asked the Minister for Education the steps he is taking to finance adequately the existing community schools.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Community Schools Financing.
70.
Mr. R. Burke
Each school is given a budget designed to cover normal school running costs apart from salaries of whole-time teachers and capital expenditure which are paid direct by my Department.
This budget is calculated in accordance with information available to my Department regarding costs of administration, part-time and non-teaching staff, class materials, heating, lighting and all other necessary items of expenditure.
Has the Minister taken any steps to make up for the rise in the cost of fuel for the heating of community schools? Has the Minister made any examination of what else will suffer as a result of finance being taken up by the extra cost of heating? I have a great many supplementary questions, A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and I am under your ruling as to whether I should ask them all together or one by one.
The best thing is for the Deputy to put his supplementaries and, if the Minister feels he would like the Deputy to repeat the questions, then the Deputy may repeat them.
I will rest satisfied with the ones I have asked already.
Mr. R. Burke
The budget submitted by the various management boards would, in normal circumstances, take account of these heating requirements and I am quite satisfied they do.
Would the Minister state if he is satisfied that slashing the budget of one community school from £53,000 to £35,000 leaves the committee of management with a feasible proposition? Is he aware that the headmaster of the Tallaght community school said he may have to close down during the year because of lack of finance?
Mr. R. Burke
I am not impressed by the public statements of those who, when their original estimates, which are sometimes inflated, are not met accuse me of slashing budgets and so forth. We keep all these things under consideration and in each case we have given them adequate finance to carry on the functions of the school.
Will the Minister agree with me that adult education participation and participation in the amenities of the sports complexes at the community school were cardinal points when the community schools were launched?
Mr. R. Burke
Yes.
Would the Minister say whether he has provided any money whatsoever for those two important aspects of the community schools?
Mr. R. Burke
The moneys for these have been provided. If the Deputy is referring to unsolved difficulties about swimming pools, perhaps he would wait for a further question which deals with this matter.
The part of my supplementary question about adult education has not been dealt with.
Mr. R. Burke
As I understand it, the funds for adult education in these community schools are adequate for the purposes for which they were intended.
One final supplementary. When the Minister slashed the budget in the case of a number of community schools why did he not consult with the board of management, which has been democratically selected, and why was this ukase issued from the Department without any consultation whatsoever?
That is a separate question.
Mr. R. Burke
The Deputy should realise that what has happened is there has been a change in the accounting system from an imprest system to a budgetary system and, if he understands this, he will understand what happened.
I understand the community schools are starved of finance.
When the Minister's party were in Opposition is it not well known that their opposition to community schools was very evident by their questioning here and is it not fair to say that the Minister is trying to sabotage the community schools scheme? Is that not the reality and is the Minister not effectively motivated by class-consciousness in his approach to education generally?
Mr. R. Burke
The three points made by the Deputy are wrong.