Vol. 533 No. 3
305 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the continuing difficulties experienced by St. Joseph's junior school in Ballymun, which has a total staff complement of 35 but has only the use of a school secretary for half of the week; if he will undertake to fund the employment of a full-time secretary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8557/01]
At primary level, my Department provides funding towards the cost of secretarial and caretaking services 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. Under this scheme St. Joseph's junior school has the services of a full-time secretary shared with St. Joseph's senior school, with the post based at the senior school. St. Joseph's junior school also has the services of a full-time caretaker under this scheme.
A second scheme, introduced under the PESP agreement in 1992, provides additional per capita grants for primary schools towards secretarial and caretaking services. Under this scheme qualifying schools receive grants of £40 per pupil per annum, £20 per pupil in respect of each service, subject to a maximum of £20,000, a maximum of £10,000 in respect of each service.
These grants are paid as additions to the standard per capita grants. This scheme does not provide for the linking of the additional per capita grants to any particular pay scale. The scheme, by its nature, is flexible and gives boards of management discretion as to the manner in which secretarial and caretaking services are to be provided. Secretaries and caretakers employed by schools are employees of the individual schools and my Department does not have any role in determining the pay and conditions under which they are employed.
As the Deputy is aware, I have increased the rates of grant by 33% from £30 per pupil to £40 per pupil with effect from January 2000. Furthermore, with effect from September 2000, I have extended the scheme to all primary schools. In addition, I have set a minimum grant of £2,400 per annum which is payable to all schools with 60 pupils or less.
These improvements mean that, for the first time, all primary schools now qualify for 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, increased in 2000 to approximately £12.2 million and will further increase this year to approximately £16.8 million.
While the priority has been to ensure that all primary schools are included in the PESP scheme of funding, the position of schools such as St. Joseph's, who are currently involved in a sharing arrangement, will be examined in the context of whatever resources are available later this year.
