Written Answers - Schools Insurance.
Seán Haughey
Question:
106
Mr. Haughey
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if his attention has been drawn to problems faced by schools due to increasing insurance premiums; the measures he is taking to deal with this situation; the reason secondary schools attached to religious orders have to pay this while community, comprehensive and vocational schools do not; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6825/03]
School insurance arrangements have evolved in a manner that reflects the different traditions and structures of the voluntary secondary, comprehensive and community and VEC sectors.
In the case of voluntary secondary schools, it is a matter for the managerial authorities of the individual schools to arrange insurance cover on school property and against public liability. Grant aid towards voluntary secondary school funding costs provided by my Department by way ofper capita grants may be used for this purpose. In the case of vocational schools and colleges, the relevant vocational education committee arranges insurance cover. With regard to community and comprehensive schools, the State provides a general indemnity to the authorities of these schools in lieu of their taking out insurance cover against liabilities which may arise.
Significant improvements have been made in the level of funding to voluntary secondary schools. The standardper capita grant from €224.74, that applied in 1997, to €266.49 in the current school year. An additional per capita grant of €38.09 is paid to disadvantaged schools bringing the total per capita grant in the case of such schools to over €300. In addition, under the school services support initiative, second level schools have benefited from further significant increases in the support grant from €25.40 per pupil in the year 2000 to €99 per pupil over this school year.
Recent developments also include a range of equalisation measures that are designed to reduce historic anomalies in the funding arrangements for the different school types at second level. Under the terms of a recent equalisation measure, the support services grant was further increased by €28 per pupil with effect from September 2002. This brought the support services grant in the case of secondary schools to €116.88 per pupil from September 2002 and to €127 per pupil from 1 January 2003. This increase is in addition to the range of equalisation grants of up to €15,554 per school, €44.44 per pupil, per annum that was approved for secondary schools in December 2001.
For a school with 500 pupils, this amounts to extra funding of up to €100,000 per annum, and annual grants of €236,761, €255,811 in the case of disadvantaged schools, towards general expenses and support services, including insurance costs.
