Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While I appreciate that, I will say again that the funding for primary schools, and their capacity to be able to run the schools, has fallen back seriously based on the capitation grants they have now. Part of that is because inflation has come into being. Heating, electricity and insurance costs have all risen substantially. While I acknowledge there was a one-off payment, schools need a more permanent basis for additional funding rather than one-off payments. It is important for them to know where they are going year in, year out. That is very important. We talk globally about the figures but we need to, with the goodwill of the Department, focus on the primary schools I see and which are coming to me. They are under severe stress trying to deal with the financial constraints they have while also trying to keep their schools up to a standard at which they deserve to be.

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