Written answers
Tuesday, 26 April 2005
Department of Education and Science
Private Schools
9:00 pm
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 439: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the funding she will be making available to fee paying schools in this year's budget. [13153/05]
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 440: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the funding from the school building fund she will be allocating to private fee paying schools in the next 12 months. [13154/05]
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 442: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the concern among many educationalists and others regarding her Department's continued funding of private paying schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13156/05]
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 443: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the funding she proposes to make available to private fee paying schools in her constituency; and if her Department has made a decision in regard to the building fund of private schools as outlined in recent media reports. [13157/05]
Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 439, 440, 442 and 443 together.
My Department has invested over â¬935 million in capital funding for post-primary schools as part of the schools' building and modernisation programme since 1999. Of this, only â¬14.486 million, less than 1.5%, was provided to fee-charging second level schools for building and refurbishment works. A total of â¬505,000 was spent on building projects in these schools in 2003 and less than â¬1 million in 2004.
The â¬223 million post-primary school building programme for 2005 includes: 33 projects going to tender and construction during the next 12 to 15 months; 11 projects, which will commence architectural design and 51 projects, announced last week, which will progress through architectural design. A further 228 projects will be funded under the 2005 summer works scheme. Only ten of these 323 projects relate to fee charging schools.
School building projects, whether for fee charging schools or schools in the free education scheme, are selected for inclusion in the schools' building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need using published criteria.
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 441: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the funding from her overall budget which goes to wages of staff of private fee paying schools. [13155/05]
Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The payment of teacher salaries is part of a complex scheme of funding for fee charging schools, which has traditionally sought to balance considerations of equity, pragmatism and State support for minority religions. Teachers in fee charging schools, irrespective of the denominational ethos of such schools, are paid by the State. This may well reflect a long standing pragmatism that the State would be required to provide teachers for the pupils in question were they located within the free education scheme. The current annual cost of teacher salaries in these schools is approximately â¬83 million.
In addition to teacher salaries, the cost of special needs assistants and clerical officers approved by my Department for fee charging schools is also funded at a current annual cost of â¬407,000 and â¬232,000, respectively.
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