Vol. 521 No. 5
160 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Science the resources he will make available to school communities when community employment schemes are terminated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17727/00]
In relation to the Deputy's question regarding the withdrawal of the community employment scheme from schools, responsibility for the operation of such schemes in schools rests with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Officials from my Department are in discussions with their counterparts in that Department regarding this issue. In general, I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to the provision by my Department of additional assistance to schools for secretarial and caretaking services.
At primary level, my Department provides funding towards the cost of caretaking and secretarial services under two separate schemes. One scheme is the 1978-79 scheme for the employment of caretakers and clerical officers under which my Department meets the full cost of salary and employer's PRSI. However, this scheme has been superseded in the PESP Agreement of 1992 by a more extensive grant scheme.
The PESP scheme provides additional per capita grants for primary schools towards secretarial and caretaking services. As the Deputy is aware, I recently announced that, with effect from September of this year, I will be extending the scheme to all primary schools. In addition I will be setting a minimum grant of £2,400 which will be payable to all schools with 60 pupils or less.
These improvements mean that with effect from September 2000 all primary schools will be receiving an annual grant to assist them with the provision of secretarial and caretaking services. The Government's commitment in this regard can also be measured by the fact that the funding allocated for this purpose, which was approximately £5.6 million in 1999 has increased this year to approximately £12.2 million and will further increase in 2001 to approximately £16.8 million.
At second level, the assistance provided by my Department towards the provision of caretaking and secretarial services reflects the different school management and ownership arrangements at second level. In the case of voluntary secondary schools in the free education scheme, all schools with 200 or more pupils receive financial assistance towards the cost of both caretaking and secretarial services under the PESP scheme. There are also a number of secondary schools in the 1978 scheme for the employment of clerical officers under which my Department meets the full cost of salary.
