Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on his review of the way fee paying schools are spending moneys received from fees; when he expects this review to be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10209/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I announced the review last December in the context of the budget, where I made a further one-point change to the staffing allocation of fee-charging schools. I indicated at the time that the purpose of the review would be to inform future policy in respect of Exchequer support for these schools. The review will be completed in the coming months and in time to inform Government deliberations on the next budget.

The majority of fee-paying schools have responded to a request from my officials seeking initial information regarding tuition fees charged for the academic year 2011-12. Reminders have issued to a small number of schools. Once complete, this information will enable a calculation of the gross income from tuition fees in respect of each school and it will be related to the Exchequer resources foregone by each school because it is a fee-charging school. The information will be shared with the schools and each school will be provided with an opportunity to provide any further information on its finances and liabilities that may have an impact on the level of fee income it actually has available.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. Even though the pupil-teacher ratio was increased slightly, all Members accept that fee-paying schools do not face the challenges faced by so many schools in disadvantaged areas in particular. Is it true that such private schools take in €120 million in fees? Is that general figure correct? If particular changes are to be made, cognisance must be taken of the Protestant schools in which boarding is a necessity in many instances. The Minister has heard me speak on the challenges facing many minority faith schools at primary level and has discussed this with me privately. I also am concerned about the challenges facing boarding schools that are under the patronage of minority faiths.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I believe the figure of €120 million is an estimate based on multiplying the number of pupils in each school by the demonstrated fees. I understand that some schools have a mechanism for not charging fees, if the economic circumstances in a particular family deteriorate, to enable the child to finish school. One should recall that all secondary schools charged fees until the period between 1966 and 1968, when Donogh O'Malley's scheme was being introduced. The schools chose voluntarily to participate in a scheme whereby in return for not charging fees, they received a block grant from the State. Out of 730 post-primary schools, 55 schools chose not to participate in the free voluntary scheme, of which 33 were of Catholic ethos, while the remainder predominantly were Protestant and they chose to remain outside the scheme for different reasons. We asked for this detailed information because there is a wide discrepancy in the economic cohort of pupils in the different schools, particularly in the Protestant fee-paying schools. When we get that information, we will be in a better place to see how we can provide additional help to some schools as opposed to others.

Near the Deputy's own constituency, the Protestant Wilson's Hospital School caters for a large number of pupils from across the country as well as from the hinterland between Longford and Westmeath. That school has managed to separate the operation of the educational school component of their activities and have opted to join the free scheme from that point of view. They have a separate set of accounts for the residential and boarding component of the school and for the educational side of it. That may be a model that can be adapted for some schools that I know are having difficulty at the moment.