Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 492: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position regarding secondary school caretakers with respect to the benchmarking process; if all secondary school caretakers have benefited from and were included in the benchmarking process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4976/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The funding provided by my Department to secondary schools for caretaking services is structured mainly on the basis of capitation grants. This provides schools with considerable flexibility in the use of resources as to the manner in which ancillary services, including caretaking, are provided. Caretakers employed by secondary schools are employees of the individual schools and the terms and conditions of employment are a matter for agreement between the employee and the authorities of each school. My Department does not have any role in determining the pay and conditions under which they are employed.

There have been significant improvements in the level of funding for voluntary secondary schools. I was particularly pleased to announce an aggregate increase of €26 per pupil from 1 January 2005 in the standard per capita grant and support services grant for voluntary secondary schools.

For example a secondary school with 500 pupils now receives annual grants of €255,761, €275,000 in the case of disadvantaged schools, towards general expenses and support services. While the focus of the support services grants is towards the cost of caretaking and secretarial assistance, schools are afforded considerable flexibility in the use of resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. These significant increases in the funding of secondary schools are a clear demonstration of my commitment to prioritise available resources to address the needs of schools.