I confirm that I have recently received representations from the school referred to by the Deputy in relation to the points raised in the Deputy's question. The submission is being considered by officials within my Department and a response to the points raised in the submission will be communicated to the school shortly.
An Action Programme for the Millennium contains a commitment to give primary education a clear priority in the allocation of resources. In the context of the 1999 Estimates, I am examining a range of options with a view to identifying the most appropriate ways to fulfil this commitment.
However, since coming to Office last year, I have made a number of changes which have improved the funding and staffing situation in schools. With regard to funding, the 1998 Estimates provided for an overall increase of almost 12 per cent in expenditure on primary education over the 1997 budget allocation. In this context, the 11 per cent increase in the standard rate of capitation grant at primary level represented an important step forward in the process of increasing capitation funding at primary level.
In relation to the provision of caretaking and clerical assistance, the Programme for Economic and Social Progress provided for the introduction of a phased scheme of additional capitation grants with a view to expanding the provision of caretaking and clerical services to all primary schools with 100 pupils or more.
The priority has been to extend the scheme to include schools which have no provision for these services already rather than increase the per capita grant rate of £30 per pupil £15 per pupil in respect of each service. In this regard the scheme has been extended to include more schools by reducing the qualifying enrolment figure to the current figure of 195 pupils.
Unfortunately the school referred to by the Deputy does not qualify for an additional capitation grant for either clerical or caretaking services at this stage as its enrolment of 102 pupils is well below the qualifying threshold.
On the question of teacher supply, I have implemented a broad range of measures to increase the supply of fully trained teachers, including significantly increasing the intake into the colleges of education. This year alone, I ensured that over 1,000 places were available within the colleges of education. I intend to maintain this high intake level over the next few years.
I have decided that, from 1 September 1998, all primary degree holders who also hold the Higher Diploma in Education will be recognised as fully trained for the purposes of providing substitution service provided that they have Irish to Grade C at higher level leaving certificate standard or its equivalent.
