Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

It is our intention to double capitation over the lifetime of this Government and I accept that this action is needed. The amount that can be achieved in any year depends upon the Estimates and budget.

Regarding the DEIS scheme, priority funding goes to band one schools. Of the amount of money I previously mentioned, an additional €13.4 million goes to 670 primary schools and 203 post-primary schools while the other €4 million is spent in a more dispersed way. The DEIS scheme has been running for two years and the money is targeted at schools in the most disadvantaged areas so hopefully those schools that have experienced problems previously will now find they have sufficient funding.

We have always recognised, especially through summer works schemes, that some schools in disadvantaged areas need fencing and security cameras and we have tried to facilitate them.

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