Vol. 573 No. 4
243 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has proposals to assist secondary schools to address the impact on school budgets caused by increases in insurance premiums which it has been suggested have increased by between 35% and 100% in the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25728/03]
Responsibility for arranging insurance cover on school property and against public liability is a matter for the managerial authorities of voluntary secondary schools, which are privately owned. Per capita grants towards the operating costs of voluntary secondary schools may be used for this purpose. Per capita grants have been increased significantly in recent years.
In the case of voluntary secondary schools, the standard per capita grant now amounts to €266.49 as against the rate of €224.74 that applied in 1997. For disadvantaged schools the increase has brought the per capita grant to over €300. In addition, secondary schools have benefited under the school services support initiative. The initial grant of €25 per pupil that was introduced for schools in September 2000 was increased to €63 per pupil in November 2001. It was further increased to €116.88 per pupil from September 2002 and was further increased by €10 per pupil from January last, bringing the support services grant in the case of voluntary secondary schools to €127 per pupil.
This increase is in addition to the range of equalisation grants of up to €15,554 per school, €44.44 per pupil, per annum that has been approved for voluntary secondary schools. Schools are afforded considerable flexibility in the use of these resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. This is, in my view, in general a preferable approach to putting in place grants for specific initiatives. For example, in a school with 500 pupils, this amounts to extra funding of up to €100,000 per annum and annual grants of €236,761, €255,811 in the case of disadvantaged schools, towards general expenses and support services, including insurance costs.
Tackling the difficulties that are being caused by high insurance premiums is a clear priority for the Government and for my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. A key concern to which the Tánaiste is giving priority is the cost and availability of liability insurance. In this context, the Tánaiste has announced a comprehensive programme for the fundamental reform of the Irish insurance market. The Government considers that this programme is capable of delivering very real reform and that reductions in insurance costs will translate into significant reductions in premiums.
