Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I am afraid I have been around the education sector for long enough to remember the genesis of the arrangement to which Senator Phelan referred. I am fairly familiar with the issue. There are 56 fee-charging second level schools in the State, of which 21 are Protestant, two are inter-denominational and one is Jewish. The rest of the fee-paying schools have a Catholic ethos. The Minister wishes to emphasise that no changes in the Protestant block grant are proposed. Protestant fee paying schools will continue to receive the Protestant block grant, which amounts to €6.25 million in the current school year. This payment, which covers capitation, tuition and boarding grants, is distributed by the secondary education committee among needier Protestant children. Applications are made by parents to the central Protestant churches authority, which distributes funds to individual schools on the basis of pupil need following a means test. The retention of this grant demonstrates the importance the Minister for Education and Science continues to attach to ensuring that Protestant students can attend schools that reflect their denominational ethos. In addition, Protestant fee-paying schools have traditionally been paid a range of support service grants that the Catholic fee-paying schools do not receive. The purpose of such grants is not to offset fees for disadvantaged Protestant students. It is estimated that savings of €2.8 million will accrue as a result of the withdrawal of these grants from Protestant fee-paying schools in 2009. The decision to remove the grants was made against the backdrop of the difficult international economic situation. In such circumstances, the education budget for 2009 inevitably includes a number of measures that involve curtailing expenditure.

The Minister for Education and Science met representatives of the Protestant churches, led by Archbishop John Neill, on 13 November last. The Minister confirmed his budget day announcement that the Protestant block grant would continue to be paid and expressed his willingness to respond positively to any proposals on how it could be better targeted to meet the needs of the Protestant community, having regard to its dispersed population and the need to sustain Protestant schools. The representatives of the Protestant church expressed concerns about the needs of the dispersed minority population. They referred in particular to the need to sustain schools in the Protestant tradition that directly serve that dispersed population in certain areas of the country. The Minister expressed his willingness to respond positively to any proposals that might be made to his Department to enable the available funding to be focused and adjusted to more effectively meet the twin objectives of providing access for individuals and sustaining the dispersed schools they wish to attend. The bishops indicated that they would reflect on how the funding the Minister is continuing to make available might best be deployed to meet the needs of their schools. Further meetings may be scheduled to develop and build on this useful and constructive discussion. No specific proposals have been forwarded to the Department. I thank the Senator for giving me an opportunity to outline to the House the position with respect to grant aid for Protestant schools.