Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 518: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will substantially increase core funding for Educate Together. [20642/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Education and Science is engaging in discussions with Educate Together about annual funding. The provision of some additional funding in 2005 to meet the immediate issues of concern to Educate Together, as well as its longer term needs, is under discussion. The current level of funding that the Department provides to Educate Together as a school management body is on a par with that provided to Foras Pátrúnachta na Gaelscoileanna, the Church of Ireland Board of Education, the Islamic Board of Education and the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education.

The Department of Education and Science has supported the establishment of many new Educate Together schools in recent years. Twelve of the 24 new schools granted provisional recognition in the past three years are under the patronage of Educate Together. The Department has made a number of changes in recent years to make the provision of accommodation for new schools much easier. Educate Together strongly welcomed the abolition of the local contribution to the building costs for State-owned school buildings, which had cost up to €63,500 per school. Other innovations include the development of the design and build model to provide permanent accommodation much faster, such as in the case of the new Educate Together school in Griffeen Valley, Lucan, which was designed and built in under 13 months.