I propose to take Questions Nos. 162 to 164, inclusive, and 169 to 174, inclusive, together. The Protestant Block Grant is a fund provided by my Department to the Secondary Education Committee (SEC), an organisation run by the churches involved in managing the Protestant secondary schools. The SEC administers the fund provided by my Department. The SEC disburses funds to the Protestant second level schools on behalf of pupils who would otherwise have difficulty with the cost of fees and who, in the absence of such financial support, would be unable to attend a second level school of a reformed church or Protestant ethos. Funding amounts to €6.75 million annually. Prior to 2011 there was no detailed written agreement between my Department and the SEC, however the general understanding was that the Block Grant represented a student support to enable children of the Protestant community to attend faith based schools. In 2011 a formal agreement between the Department of Education and Skills and the SEC in relation to the Protestant Block Grant was put in place. Paragraph 2 of this agreement states that "The purpose of the scheme will continue to be the provision of funding to assist necessitous children of the Protestant community in accessing second level education in a school that accords with their faith tradition." The agreement further states that "In order to determine a pupil's eligibility for support under the Scheme, the Secondary Education Committee will confine support to pupils comprehended by the objective set in paragraph 2 and will operate a financial means test."