Vol. 424 No. 1
100 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education whether sanction will be given for the recruitment of a replacement caretaker for a school (details supplied) in County Wexford which has an enrolment of 438 pupils; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The school in question in this instance formerly had a caretaker post under a scheme which is being phased out. The school does not qualify for a replacement under that scheme.
In the normal course, provision of caretaking services is appropriately made from the capitation grant paid to a school.
In order to augment the resources available to schools for caretaking and clerical services a phased progrmme of financial assistance by way of a supplementary capitation grant for the provision of these services in national schools has been introduced from 1 September 1992, under the terms of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress.
The initial phase of the programme has targeted schools with enrolments of 500 pupils or over which have not had caretaking and/or assistance already.
It is not possible to say at this stage when the school may benefit under a later phase of the programme.
