Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 December 2004
226 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the escalation in cost of insurance for schools in Dublin in recent years, which has more than doubled in the past five years; if she has developed an index of the costs of care and maintenance of second level schools; her estimation of the increase in such costs in recent years; and the current cost per pupil. [31946/04]
View answerI am not aware of the costs of insurance in individual secondary schools, as it is a matter for the managerial authorities of the individual schools to arrange insurance cover on school property and against public liability. However, I am aware of the concerns expressed by school authorities in relation to increased insurance costs. Grant aid to voluntary secondary schools is provided by my Department by way of per capita grants and may be used towards insurance as well as care and maintenance costs.
The benefit of developing an index of the costs of care and maintenance and the associated cost per pupil is not clear. The amount expended by schools on such items is a matter for school managements and will vary depending on the priority accorded by each school in accordance with its own needs. There have been significant improvements in the level of funding for voluntary secondary schools. The standard per capita grant amounts to €274 as against the rate of €224.74 that applied in 1997. I refer to my recent announcement, in the context of the 2005 Estimates, to the further increase in this grant to €286 per pupil, with effect from January next. This increase will bring the per capita grant in the case of disadvantaged schools to €324 per pupil. In addition, under the school services support fund initiative, secondary schools have benefited from further significant increases in the support grant. This grant which was introduced in September 2000 has been increased from €25 per pupil to the current rate of €99 per pupil and it will be further increased to €103 from January next.
Funding for voluntary secondary schools has been further enhanced by the introduction of a range of equalisation measures that are designed to reduce the historical anomalies in the funding arrangements for the different school types at second level. Under the terms of recent equalisation measures, the support grant has in the case of voluntary secondary schools been significantly enhanced to €131 per pupil and from January next it will be further increased by €10 per pupil bringing the overall grant for such schools to €145 per pupil. These increases are in addition to the range of equalisation grants of up to €15,554 per school per annum that have also been approved for voluntary secondary schools.
This amounts to additional funding of up to €119,000 per annum and annual grants of €255,761 —€275,000 in the case of disadvantaged schools — towards general expenses and support services for a secondary school with 500 pupils. Schools are afforded considerable flexibility in the use of resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. This is, in general, a preferable approach to putting in place grants for specific cost items such as those referred to by the Deputy.
I was particularly pleased to announce an aggregate increase of €26 per pupil from January next for voluntary secondary schools. Schools have welcomed this increase. These significant increases in the funding of secondary schools are a clear demonstration of my commitment to prioritise available resources to address the needs of schools.
