Vol. 457 No. 6
84 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Education if she will consider providing better security measures for schools at night and at weekends, especially for schools in vulnerable locations, following a number of serious and costly incidents of vandalism and arson at schools in Dublin north east; and the annual national cost of such vandalism and arson. [16054/95]
Responsibility for the security and protection of school property is a matter for local school managerial authorities. The cost of security measures is met from their annual grants for running costs. Special additional funding has been made available in a limited number of cases. Static guard security is in place in 12 community schools in the Dublin area, which are especially open to vandalism.
In addition, a special security project is in operation, on a pilot basis, in the case of a number of primary and secondary schools in the Finglas area of Dublin. The introduction of similar projects in other areas that are subject to a high degree of vandalism must await an evaluation of the effectiveness of that project on the completion of its pilot phase.
My Department does not have global statistics on the annual national cost of such vandalism.
