Vol. 456 No. 2
16 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Education the current level of State funding in support of fee-charging schools, including details of spending on teachers' salaries and other grants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13492/95]
Fee-charging second level schools do not receive the per capita grant in respect of their students nor do they receive support for the employment of secretaries and caretakers to which schools which are in the fee education scheme are entitled. In the case of Protestant schools, all of which are fee-charging, a block grant of £2.8 million is paid to the Secondry Education Committee for distribution among needier Protestant children to enable them to attend a Protestant school. The total annual amount paid in respect of salaries and allowances of teachers in fee-charging schools is approximately £28 million. Of this, approximately £10.5 million is accounted for by the salaries of teachers in Protestant schools. The total teacher pay bill at second level is of the order of £584 million. Applications for capital grants by fee-paying schools are infrequent and do not give rise to a significant charge on capital resources.
