I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 106 together.
My Department provides funding to secondary schools by way of per capita grants, which afford schools considerable flexibility in the use of these resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. There have been significant improvements in recent years in the level of funding for voluntary secondary schools, and I am pleased to advise the Deputy that increases will continue to be applied in 2008. As I announced last week, with effect from 1 January 2008, the standard per capita grant will increase by €15 to €331 per pupil. In addition, voluntary secondary schools will benefit by an increase of €15 per pupil from 1 January 2008 in the support services grant, bringing that grant to €204. This increase is inclusive of a €10 increase in equalisation funding for voluntary secondary schools.
The total increase of €30 per pupil in a voluntary secondary school will bring the aggregate grant to €535 per pupil. The Deputy should be aware that these grants are in addition to the per capita funding, of up to €40,000 per school, that is also provided by my Department to secondary schools towards secretarial and caretaking services. Accordingly, in the case of a secondary school with 500 pupils, the annual grants towards general expenses and support service will be more than €300,000 in 2008. This represents an increase of 92% approximately since 2000. These significant increases in the funding of voluntary secondary schools are a clear demonstration of my commitment to prioritise available resources to address the needs of schools. It is estimated that an additional €14.64m is required to complete the process of equalisation of funding at second level.