Vol. 575 No. 3
173 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will implement the Blackstock report in full to ensure that all second level schools are treated equally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28103/03]
174 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will provide additional funding to AMCSS schools to address the rising cost of insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28104/03]
177 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has received correspondence from voluntary secondary schools in relation to the level of capitation grant they receive; if, in this context, he will increase the capitation grant to a level that will cover in full the increasing insurance costs which these schools have to face; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28135/03]
202 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has plans to implement the findings of the Blackstock committee, recommending that insurance payments should be made to voluntary secondary schools to compensate for the State funding of principal insurance costs to comprehensive and community schools; if his attention has been drawn to the severe financial burden being experienced by voluntary secondary schools as a result of the huge increase in insurance costs; the plans he has to increase capitation funds in this regard to help alleviate the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28351/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 173, 174, 177 and 202 together.
There have been significant improvements in the level of funding for voluntary secondary schools. In the context of the 2004 Estimates, I recently announced a further improvement in the per capita grant to €274 per pupil as against the rate of €224.74 that applied in 1997. This increase will bring the grant to €312 in the case of disadvantaged schools. In addition, secondary schools have benefited under the school services support initiative. The initial grant of €25 per pupil which was introduced for second level schools in September 2000 was increased to €89 per pupil from September 2002 and was further increased by €10 per pupil from January last to €99 per pupil. In the case of voluntary secondary schools, the grant was increased by a further €28 to €117 in September 2002 bringing the support services grant in the case of such schools to €127 per pupil from January last.
In the context of the 2004 Estimates, the grant will be further increased to €131 per pupil. This increase is in addition to the range of equalisation grants of up to €15,554 per school, or €44.44 per pupil, per annum which have also been approved for voluntary secondary schools. For a secondary school with 500 pupils, this amounts to extra funding of up to €105,684 per annum and annual grants of €242,501 –€261,551 in the case of disadvantaged schools – towards general expenses and support services. Schools are afforded considerable flexibility in the use of these resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. This is, in general, a preferable approach to putting in place grants for specific initiatives, including those referred to by the Deputies.
