Vol. 544 No. 3
464 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Science the funding which is available for the provision of books in school libraries for use by special needs students; and if Coon national school, Kilkenny, qualifies for this funding. [28736/01]
I am very conscious of the need to ensure that all schools have access to proper library facilities and resources. In this regard in recent years two grants have issued from my Department directly to primary and post-primary schools to assist them with the development of their library resource materials. The first grant was called a library grant and was issued by my Department in December 1998. At that time all primary schools received a grant of £1,000 per school, while schools designated as disadvantaged received £3,170 each. The grant that issued to second level schools in December 1998 amounted to £2,500, while disadvantaged schools received £5,320. A second grant issued to all primary and post primary schools in December 1999 as part of the national reading initiative. Under the terms of this grant primary schools received a payment of £7.70 per pupil, while a minimum grant of £462 was issued to all schools with 60 pupils or less. Post primary schools also received £7.70 per pupil, while a minimum grant of £1,540 was paid to all schools with less than 200 recognised pupils. At primary level, the total value of these two grants was approximately £7.7 million, while at second level the two grants amounted to £5.2 million. Coon national school received a total of £1,462 under the above two grant schemes.
