asked the Minister for Education the steps he proposes to take to disburse all grants to voluntary secondary schools within the year in which they were earned; and when he anticipates this reform will take effect.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Secondary School Grants.
23.
Grants to secondary schools are generally paid in the school year to which they relate.
In regard to capitation grant and Irish and bilingual grant, it would not be feasible to pay these grants in the current school year as they are based on pupil attendance returns relating to the previous school year.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary agree that in a heavy inflation situation the grants paid in a specific school year should be related to the number of pupils in the school in that year and that the present system was evolved when monetary values were reasonably steady and that consequently the system has been outdated by inflation?
The system in relation to capitation grants has been there since 1924 when it was introduced. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that if one were to change the situation now and pay the current year's grants and also last year's grants we would have to pay two grants in the one year which would impose a considerable strain on the budget. In relation to the inflationary situation the Deputy will agree that the Minister has brought about very substantial increases in the finance available to secondary schools in the two years since he took office.
Further arising from the Parliamentary Secretary's reply, and directly relevant to his last remark, is he aware that Deputies are being bombarded by letters from school managers asking us to appeal to the Minister to pay those grants this academic year and not wait until the next academic year when their work will be further eroded?
I have indicated the position in relation to this matter.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary saying that the system which existed in 1924 when monetary values were reasonably stable should still persist in this period of galloping inflation? Is there not enough expertise or imagination in the Department of Education or in the Government to take account of current conditions?
The suggestion is that the present Minister has made a bigger injection of finance into secondary education than his predecessors.
That is a load of codswallop and the Parliamentary Secretary knows it.
It is true.
The Parliamentary Secretary is talking rot.
I am not.
Is there no intention of relating current values to the current school year and current expenses? In other words, are school managers going to suffer by 4 or 5 per cent a year in relation to capitation grants?
The grants in lieu of tuition are paid on a current year basis and they are the larger of the two grants. The capitation grant is not and has not been since it was introduced in 1924.
We want the rises this year.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that in the case of voluntary schools the debt which has arisen since last year to these schools, which has not been taken care of by the grant system, will be worse next year?
That is a separate question.
Particular schools have particular problems.
I am calling Question No. 24.