Vol. 495 No. 4
423 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Science the primary schools in Kilkenny city and county considered by his Department to be understaffed or underfunded; the primary schools which have applied to his Department for extra funds and extra staff; the steps, if any, his Department is taking to deal with the complaint that primary schools are understaffed and underfunded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20397/98]
The pupil teacher ratio for primary schools in the current school year is approximately 21.2 to 1, compared with 25.2 to 1 in 1992-93. I am determined to ensure that the reduction in the pupil teacher ratio will continue in the future. From time to time my Department receives applications for extra funds and extra staff from primary schools in various parts of the country. Such applications are not recorded on a county basis and therefore details relating to County Kilkenny are not readily available to me.
I am, however, aware of ongoing concerns among school authorities generally in regard to the level of funding allocated to primary schools. In this connection, I am happy to reaffirm the Government's commitment to give primary education a clear priority in the allocation of resources as set out in the policy document An Action Programme for the Millennium.
This commitment is clearly reflected in the 1998 Estimates, where I provided for an overall increase of almost 12 per cent in expenditure on primary education. In this context, the 11 per cent increase in the standard rate of capitation grant represented an important step forward in the process of increasing capitation funding at primary level. I assure the Deputy that I will continue to give priority to the issue of further increases in the funding of primary schools.
