Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 271: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the cost accrued by the State in training a primary teacher in each official teacher training college; the cost of training a primary teacher by a recognised on-line facility for graduates; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37319/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There are three different methods of providing funding to the five colleges of education, reflecting the historical context within which the colleges were established and developed over time.

Coláiste Mhuire Marino and the Froebel College of Education are funded on a capitation basis with funding linked to a payment per student registered in these colleges which is certified by the college president. My Department is not prescriptive in how this funding is spent by the colleges, only that in accordance with regulations governing all public expenditure, the monies are spent in accordance with the purposes for which they are allocated. For Coláiste Mhuire Marino and the Froebel College of Education, this purpose is teacher training.

The Church of Ireland College is funded on a budget basis: this involves that college submitting annual returns and financial projections for agreement by my Department. St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, are funded through the Higher Education Authority, HEA.

The amount of current funding provided by my Department for the 1999-2004 period is set out in the following table. Finally, I assume the on-line facility referred to by the Deputy is the Hibernia College. As this is a privately-owned and operated college, my Department does not provide it with any funding.

Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra are funded by the HEA.