Ivor Callely
Question:149 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Education the total number of schools under the aegis of her Department; the number of caretakers employed in schools in a temporary, casual, permanent or on a social employment scheme.
Written Answers. - School and Caretaker Statistics.
A figure of 4,113 schools operate under the aegis of my Department. This figure comprises 3,212 national schools, 116 special schools, 467 voluntary secondary schools, 248 vocational schools and 70 community and comprehensive schools.
The latest information available to my Department indicates that there are 290 caretakers employed in vocational schools and 105 in community-comprehensive schools.
It is open to the authorities of both primary and secondary schools to use grants paid by my Department towards running costs to employ caretakers. In such cases, the school authorities are the employers and my Department would have no involvement. In addition, numbers of schools have caretaking services under the social employment scheme administered by FÁS. Accordingly, I am not aware of the total number of caretakers employed in primary or secondary schools or the nature or terms of employment.
Under the terms of theProgramme for Economic and Social Progress, financial assistance is being made available to primary and post-primary schools to assist them in the provision of caretaker and/or secretarial services. This arrangement is being implemented on a phased basis and commenced in September 1992. In 1992-93, a total of 88 primary schools and 69 secondary schools benefited under the arrangement, some schools using the grant for the provision of caretakers and others for clerical assistants — precise details of the breakdown are not currently available.
In addition, there is also a grant scheme specifically for the purposes of employing caretakers in primary schools which is being phased out according as vacancies occur and the capitation grant arrangements under theProgramme for Economic and Social Progress are phased in. Under this scheme, 358 primary schools have caretakers.