Seán Crowe
Ceist:476 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Science when he expects to make concrete proposals to Cabinet regarding the withdrawal of State support for fee-paying schools. [19747/03]
Vol. 571 No. 1
476 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Science when he expects to make concrete proposals to Cabinet regarding the withdrawal of State support for fee-paying schools. [19747/03]
The total annual amount paid in respect of fee-charging secondary schools is €77.5 million. Of this sum approximately €68.5 million relates to salaries and allowances of teachers. The balance includes the Protestant block grant, funding towards support services such as secretarial and caretaking services and grants towards supervision arrangements.
The payment of teachers salaries is part of a complex scheme of funding for fee-charging schools, which has traditionally sought to balance considerations of equity, pragmatism and State support for minority religions. Teachers in fee-charging schools, irrespective of the denominational ethos of the school, are paid by the State. This may well reflect a long-standing pragmatism that the State would be required to provide teachers for the pupils in question were they located within the free education scheme.