Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will forgive me for expressing my frustration. This issue was raised by me on 12 June last year. I took it from the reply given by the then Minister, Deputy Bruton, that he was dealing with it urgently, taking steps, meeting stakeholders and doing everything possible to deal with it. One year later we find that the insurance industry is being allowed by the Government to run amok and the response of the Department of Education and Skills is neither good enough nor quick enough. One school's insurance costs jumped from €3,000 to €26,300. I have no idea why that happened in two years. It is unsustainable and no school could ever meet that cost. Furthermore, the Government has refused to grant the increases in capitation we sought last year in the budget. I do not know what happened in that regard. I believe the then Minister, Deputy Bruton, felt Fianna Fáil would fight for and get this, but it seems that people at the higher levels of the Minister's party felt they did not want to be seen to give Fianna Fáil a win on capitation payments. The problem was left unaddressed and it appeared to be a case of "We will leave the schools without". There was an uncaring attitude on the part of the Government which was not willing to accede to the demand of the unions, Fianna Fáil and the Dáil on capitation payments. As a result, schools have been left in the lurch with these and other bills that they simply cannot afford to pay.

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