Mildred Fox
Question:238 Miss Fox asked the Minister for Education and Science if a full-time caretaker will be employed at St. Fergal's senior national school, Bray (details supplied). [3720/00]
Written Answers. - Secretarial and Caretaking Services.
My Department provides funding towards the cost of secretarial and caretaking services in primary schools under two separate schemes. One scheme is the 1978-79 scheme for the employment of school secretaries and caretakers under which my Department meets the full cost of salary and employer's PRSI. This scheme is, however, being phased out as posts become vacant.
Arising from the Programme for Economic and Social Progress, a second scheme was introduced in 1992 whereby my Department provides additional capitation grants for primary schools towards the cost of secretarial and caretaking services. Under the PESP scheme, schools receive grants of £30 per pupil, based on their enrolments, which are paid as additions to the standard per capita grant.
With effect from January of this year, all primary schools with 100 or more pupils have become eligible for a grant towards secretarial and caretaking services under this scheme. Costing £2.7 million, this improvement of the scheme will benefit approximately 650 schools serving 90,000 pupils. My Department is currently making arrangements for the issuing of these grants to schools.
The Deputy will also be aware that I have secured an additional £9 million in the recent budget, over the next two years, which will enable me to extend and improve the supports available to all primary schools. Details of the implementation of this will be worked out in the near future following consultations and will, when taken together with the earlier move, make a major contribution to assisting schools.
The position of schools such as St. Fergal's will be borne in mind in working out details for the implementation of the additional £9 million referred to above. However the first priority will be to provide for secretarial and caretaking assistance for those schools that are currently not assisted.