Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 678: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the funding crisis facing the Educate Together patron body; if her Department will provide funding to enable Educate Together to continue carrying out the excellent developmental work in enabling new schools to be developed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22116/05]

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 679: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if, notwithstanding the fact that patron bodies do not currently receive more than €39,800 core funding from her Department, she will consider providing bridging funding in the 2006 estimates for Educate Together, in view of the fact that it is currently facing a funding crisis. [22117/05]

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 680: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she is taking to ensure that patron bodies are in receipt of comparable funding; if there are any mechanisms whereby Educate Together may receive developmental funding from other State sources; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22118/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 678 to 680, inclusive, together.

The current level of funding that my Department provides for Educate Together as a school management body is on a par with that provided to Foras Patrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán-Ghaeilge, the Church of Ireland Board of Education, the Islamic Board of Education and the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education. Nonetheless, my Department is engaged in discussions with Educate Together on its funding needs. The provision of some additional funding in 2005 to meet the immediate issues of concern to Educate Together is under discussion with its longer term needs.

The issue of additional funding for Educate Together from other State sources is essentially a matter for the patron body to pursue with the relevant interests outside of my Department.

On support for the establishment of new multi-denominational schools, it should be noted that my Department has supported the establishment of many new Educate Together schools in recent years. Of the 24 new schools granted provisional recognition in the past three years, 12 of them are under Educate Together patronage.

My Department has made a number of changes in recent years which have made the provision of accommodation for new schools much easier. One of these changes which was strongly welcomed by Educate Together was 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.