Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The first point to make is that we will not force any small school to close. Second, one of the reasons for the cutbacks across all Departments in recent years was the damage caused by the Deputy's party to the economy before we took office. All Departments had to cut expenditure and my Department was no exception. We have since restored some of the grants to which the Deputy referred. The minor works grant, for example, which gives a set amount to all schools, plus some more depending on the number of students, has been restored to schools, as have several other funding streams.

With regard to funding for amalgamations, if there are specific aspects whereby amalgamation requires extra funding, whether it be where there are two principals or any of the number of issues that can arise when two schools come together, it is perfectly feasible that the Department would assist in that regard.

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