Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 159: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will report on the provision of core State funding for Educate Together; if the funding is adequate for the organisation to continue its valuable work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28458/05]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 172: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she is taking to address the serious funding imbalance whereby the Educate Together organisation receives much less State support than other education sectors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28556/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 159 and 172 together.

The funding my Department provides to Educate Together as a school management body is on a par with that provided to Foras Patrúnachta 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. However, following discussions with Educate Together, my Department has provided additional funding to Educate Together in 2005 to meet the immediate issues of concern to that body. The matter of the future funding to be provided to the primary management bodies, including Educate Together, in 2006 will be considered as part of the normal Estimates process.

With regard to support for the establishment of new multi-denominational schools, 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 — 11 of which are open. 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, County Dublin, which was designed and built in under 13 months.