Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I acknowledge there is a commitment by the Government to continue to increase the capitation grant. I appreciate that the point we are at is above where we were a number of years ago, but with inflation we need to keep increasing that. I am absolutely committed, as is the Government, to doing that. It is about increasing the capitation grant, making sure schools get the minor works grant and know when they will get it and making sure the ICT grant is paid out. We gave a commitment that we would pay out €200 million over the lifetime of the digital strategy. Some €135 million of that has been paid out to date and schools should be clear that the remaining €65 million will be paid out in the next two years. I want to put a calendar in place in order that schools know exactly when grants will be paid. They know the most recent capitation grant for the coming September was just paid out in June. However, for the other grants for minor works, ICT and everything else, I want there to be a clear calendar in order that schools know and principals can plan for it.

On bringing down costs overall, we have to look at different ways of dealing with this. Instead of just giving more money, which we need to do, we need to look at whether we can bring down costs for schools. Investing in climate adaption is important. We have 1,400 schools that have installations of solar panels. I was in a school in Castletown, County Meath, last week where the solar panels were new, so they have not yet seen the impact. However, other schools have seen a reduction in their bills. The second phase of that is now happening for other schools. The quicker we can retrofit and support schools in that way, the better. There are options for schools to join a procurement framework and I encourage them to do that. It looks at electricity, gas and fuel and other areas. We also need to look at insurance. We talk about it all the time for cars, public liability and other areas for schools. We need to look at insurance and make sure schools are getting the best price possible and we will work with them on that.

For schools that have seen an increase in children who are claiming international protection or children from Ukraine, there has been an increase in the English-as-an-additional-language posts. Schools are getting additional posts and supports. Children coming from Ukraine can access the school transport scheme as well, but we are always looking at ways in which we can try to support schools and especially support those who come from more challenging backgrounds.