Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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5. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a commitment to secure the financial feasibility of schools by not proceeding with the proposed 1% cut in the capitation grant, as announced in budget 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38015/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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This question relates to capitation grants, which, as the Minister is aware, are the main source of funding for schools. The effect of the year-on-year reduction in the capitation grant on schools has been significant. Will the Minister give a commitment that the planned reduction due to take place next year will not now go ahead?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Government's focus in recent years has been on operating a budgetary programme that is designed to return Government finances to a sustainable basis. I appreciate that the measures taken impacted on schools, including the reduction in capitation, and are not sustainable in the longer term. The multi-annual reduction in the funding for capitation and related grants involved a 2% reduction in 2012 and 2013 and a further 1% reduction in 2014 and 2015. I do not envisage any change to the 2015 element of the multi-annual savings measure but I regard capitation funding as one of the priority areas to be considered for improved funding as the public finances improve on foot of economic recovery.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am a little confused by the Minister's answer. Last week during Question Time we raised with the Minister for Finance the issue of a neutral budget. We were trying to get some clarity on previously announced cuts, such as the capitation grant cut, which was announced in 2012. Given that we are looking at a neutral budget, will those cuts take place next year?

10 o’clock

The Minister for Finance in his answer stated:

If the effective date was 2014, the Minister responsible would have to provide for it within the 2014 Estimates... If, on the other hand, the changes are with effect from some date after 1 January 2015, it is not in the base and must be provided for in the Book of Estimates...

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The figures I have includes capitation. In fact, the 2015 element of the multiannual saving will result in an estimated saving of €3.3 million per annum. Those are the figures which have been presented to me and with which I have had to work. As I said, the main pressure with regard to the education budget is the demographics. We are constantly struggling, even with a neutral budget, in terms of catering for the extra number of children. Nonetheless, the Deputy has raised a point of discussion I was not aware of because, obviously, I was not present for those questions. I will certainly check to see whether that has relevance to the decisions I have to make.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I would appreciate that because the Minister for Finance was pretty clear in his answer, stating that any proposed cuts which take effect in 2015 would not have to be considered in terms of a neutral budget.

On the capitation grant, like all new Ministers, when she entered office the Minister got a briefing document from her Department. It was a fairly extensive document, which I read. Page 89 of the document touches on the issue of capitation grants, where it states:

The adequacy of the capitation funding for schools is a critical issue. Any further reduction, if it were to prove necessary for budgetary reasons, may create a risk that some schools would not be able to cover critical costs, such as insurance, heat and light, the absence of which could trigger school closures.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I said in my initial response that I am very conscious that we need to address this issue as soon as we can. I can confirm that was in the briefing document and I agree we need to address it. Clearly, there are specific issues schools have to address and they use the capitation money for that.

In regard to the Deputy's point that anything to be spent in 2015 would not have to be implemented, the figures that were intended to be spent over the next school year would be built into the base figures that our Department had to work with. While I do not doubt what the Deputy said in regard to what the Minister for Finance said, I imagine that would be additional spending for 2015 rather than something that was already built into the base figures.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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That is not what was said.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I will check it for the Deputy.