Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 758: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a school (details supplied) in Dublin 11 will qualify for a full-time school secretary, paid at the full rate, under the DEIS scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10367/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Education and Science provides funding towards the cost of secretarial and caretaking services in primary schools under two separate schemes. The 1978-79 employment of full-time secretaries and caretakers in primary schools scheme, under which the Department meets the full costs of salaries, is being phased out as posts become vacant and no new posts are created. The scheme has been superseded by a more extensive grant scheme that is referred to as the ancillary services grant, which provides additional funding for primary schools towards the cost of secretarial and caretaking services. The scheme is flexible as it gives boards of management discretion in the manner in which secretarial and caretaking services are provided.

The school referred to by the Deputy receives secretarial grant assistance under the ancillary services scheme. The standard rate of grant per pupil under the scheme, which was increased from €102 in 2002 to €133 in 2005, is being further increased to €139 this year. The amount of grant paid to an individual school is determined by the enrolment in the school subject to a minimum grant of €8,340 in the case of a school with 60 pupils or less and a maximum grant of €69,500 in the case of a school with 500 or more pupils, provided the school in question does not already have caretaking or secretarial services under an existing departmental scheme.

If a school already has caretaking or secretarial services under an existing scheme, the rate of grant payable is €69.50 per pupil and the minimum and maximum grants payable are €4,170 and €34,750 respectively. The school to which the Deputy refers has the services of a full-time caretaker under the 1978-79 scheme. Accordingly, the rate of grant to be paid to the school this year under the ancillary services scheme is €69.50 per pupil. There is no provision for the allocation of school secretaries under the DEIS scheme.