Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Sep 1999

Vol. 508 No. 1

Written Answers. - School Staffing.

Bernard Allen

Ceist:

806 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will make the necessary funding available in order that St. Patrick's girls primary school, Gardiner's Hill, Cork, can employ a full-time secretary in view of the fact they are in danger of losing a secretarial service when the primary school decouples from St. Patrick's girls secondary school. [17235/99]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin):

My Department provides a grant to cover the full cost of the salary of the secretary who is currently shared between St. Patrick's primary and secondary schools, Gardiner's Hill, Cork. Earlier this year, sanction was received from the Department of Finance to improve the position of primary and secondary schools that are currently involved in a sharing arrangement. In essence, my Department has proposed to the two schools that the school secretary post be allocated in full to St. Patrick's secondary school, and that St. Patrick's primary school would be grant aided under the 1992 scheme of additional capitation towards secretarial services.

My officials wrote to both schools in July of this year outlining this proposal and stressed that it was a matter for the authorities of both schools to agree to the new arrangement. It is of course open to either or both of the schools to refuse to enter into the new arrangement which would mean that the current sharing arrangement would continue as heretofore.

While my officials are in ongoing correspondence with both schools, I would have to point out that it will not be possible to allocate a full-time secretarial post to the primary school. Should the primary school agree to terminate the current sharing arrangement, my Department will provide a grant of £15 per pupil per annum to the school towards secretarial services. In the current school year this would amount to £3,870 (based on the schools enrolment of 258 pupils in September 1998). You will appreciate that this figure would represent an overall increase in funding to the two schools of £3,870 in respect of secretarial services.

I regret that it is not possible to make any new full-time appointments but as I have pointed out, it is open to the primary school to either continue as heretofore in the sharing arrangement or move to the 1992 scheme of additional capitation.