Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the cost to the State of training a primary school teacher through both the three years' taught undergraduate Bachelor of Education course and the 18-month postgraduate course; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24421/04]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A unit cost system of allocating funds to the five colleges of education which provide training for primary teachers has not been developed as the costing and funding arrangements vary significantly within the colleges of education sector.

The Church of Ireland College of Education is funded on a budget basis by my Department. The annual budget for the college is allocated on the basis of its total pay and non-pay requirements for each year. Froebel College, Sion Hill, Blackrock, and Coláiste Mhuire, Marino, are funded on a per capita basis by my Department. As a result of institutional linkages developed with University of Limerick and Dublin City University, St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, are funded through the Higher Education Authority. Therefore, it is not possible, and nor is it advisable, to attempt to develop a costing for the teacher training courses in the five colleges of education at either undergraduate or postgraduate levels.