Vol. 529 No. 4
253 Mr. J. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Education and Science the measures he is taking to assist in funding newly established schools such as the Education Together multi-denominational schools, to purchase educational equipment when existing grant schemes are based on enrolment, thereby excluding the schools for their first year of operation. [3096/01]
The question of excluding schools from the benefit of the various grant schemes operated by my Department for their first year of operation does not arise.
Most of my Department's grants to schools are based on the number of pupils enrolled in each school. Because details of enrolments for the current school year are not available for some months after the commencement of the school year, many of the grants tend to be based on enrolments for the previous school year. However, my Department recognises that this is not possible in the case of newly established schools. Therefore, arrangements are made to pay such grants on the basis of their current enrolments. Consequently new schools benefit from such schemes, and grants appropriate to their level of enrolments are paid to each school.
