Paul McAuliffe
Question:277. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education the estimated net cost to the Exchequer of funding fee paying schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49381/21]
View answerTuesday, 12 October 2021
Questions (277)
Written answers
Gross expenditure on the order of €121 million was incurred by my Department on salaries for teachers and special needs assistants (including employer’s PRSI) in fee-charging schools in the 2020/2021 school year. Capital supports (building related and ICT grants) are also available to such schools. In recent years, an annual average of approx. €1m has been paid to such schools in capital supports.
If the parents of children in the fee-charging sector chose to send their children to the non-fee-charging sector, the State would have to fund those school places. In this respect, the figures quoted relate to the gross cost of fee-charging schools and not the net financial position. Since it is not possible to predict these patterns of behaviour it is not possible to calculate the net financial position.