Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
625. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills when full restoration of the capitation grant to pre-recession levels of €200 will be provided which is required to fund basic costs for running primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34248/19]
View answerI fully recognise the need to improve capitation funding for schools.
In the period 2011 to 2015 the capitation and related grants for schools were reduced by just over 11% in aggregate.
I am pleased to have been able to provide for a 5% increase in capitation funding for primary and post primary schools that will apply from the start of the 2019/20 school year. The first and full year costs of this increase is €4 million and €10 million respectively.
I must be prudent in the context of ongoing budgetary pressures. Where it is not possible to do everything that I would like to do in the education sector in any one year I have to prioritise, especially in the context of increasing enrolments.
It is my intention to seek funding for further capitation increases in future budgets.
