Vol. 574 No. 5
169 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Education and Science if, in the forthcoming budget, he will increase the capitation grant by at least ?50 per student to try to alleviate the problems of insurance costs for schools. [27685/03]
There have been significant improve ments in the level of funding for voluntary secondary schools. In the context of the 2004 Estimates, I recently announced a further improvement in the per capita grant to €274 per pupil, as against the rate of €224.74 that applied in 1997. This increase will bring the grant to €312 in the case of disadvantaged schools. In addition, secondary schools have benefited under the school services support initiative. The initial grant of €25 per pupil that was introduced for second level schools in September 2000 was increased to €89 per pupil from September 2002, and was further increased by €10 per pupil from January last to €99 per pupil. In the case of voluntary secondary schools the grant was increased by a further €28 to €117 in September 2002 bringing the support services grant in the case of such schools to €127 per pupil from January last. In the context of the 2004 Estimates the grant will be further increased to €131 per pupil. 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 have also been approved for voluntary secondary schools.
For a secondary school with 500 pupils, this amounts to extra funding of up to €105,684 per annum and annual grants of €242,5001, €261,551 in the case of disadvantaged schools, towards general expenses and support services. Schools are afforded considerable flexibility in the use of these resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. This is in my view, in general, a preferable approach to putting in place grants for specific initiatives, including those referred to by the Deputies.
Tackling the difficulties that are being caused by high insurance premiums is a clear priority for the Government and for my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. A key concern to which the Tánaiste is giving priority is the cost and availability of liability insurance. In this context, the Tánaiste has announced a comprehensive programme for the fundamental reform of the Irish insurance market. The Government considers that these measures constitute a programme that is capable of delivering very real reform and that reductions in insurance costs will translate into significant reductions in premiums.
I am committed to improving further the funding position of voluntary secondary schools in the light of available resources.
