Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. One of the primary issues with which I have been tasked is to try to encourage and make it easier for schools to participate in the summer provision. One of the reasons we secured €20 million in the budget is so that €40 million is already set aside for next year. Staff will, therefore, have time to plan in each individual school, particularly special schools in which children have more complex needs. We have also undertaken other measures to improve the situation and the attractiveness of providing a summer programme to schools. There is flexibility around when they can participate or when they can host the summer programme. We have tried to ease the administrative burden. We have appointed an overseer role and introduced preparation hours, thereby allowing principals to delegate functions to other members of staff. We have also increased capitation funding, which is of huge assistance to the schools.

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