Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur ar an Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna. The spiralling cost of insurance has been well discussed in this House. Today, I wish to focus on insurance costs for special schools. St. Martin's special school in Waterford is a state-of-the-art school that was opened in June 2018. It has 78 pupils with mild, severe and complex intellectual needs. The school employs two nurses. However, since the new building opened, insurance costs have been rising with more pupils and more staff. Currently, the school receives a capitation grant of €56,000, and 38% of that is now being used for insurance. That is putting considerable strains on the principal and the board of management and it is not sustainable. Already, the quote for the premium for next year has increased from €21,500 to €24,000, and the principal of the school is extremely worried about how he will fund it.

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