Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 764: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the discrepancy in water charges which sees a school (details supplied) in County Wicklow, with 106 pupils, facing a bill in 2006 of €2,000 from Wicklow County Council, while another school in Blessington, with several hundred pupils was sent a bill for only €1,700 and other schools do not have to pay any charges at present; her Department's plans to help the school and other smaller schools pay for the charges, as the moneys have to come out of the capitation grant or be fund-raised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10405/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The running costs of primary schools are met by the Department of Education and Science's scheme of capitation grants, which is intended to contribute towards the general operating costs of national schools. The standard rate of capitation grant has been increased substantially in recent years, from €57.14 per pupil in 1997 to €133.58 with effect from 1 January 2005. It was further increased by €12 per pupil with effect from 1 January 2006, bringing the standard rate to €145.58. This represents an increase of almost 155% in the standard rate of capitation grant since 1997. Local authority service charges and other charges which are payable to the various local authorities do not come within the remit of the Department of Education and Science. It is a matter for local authorities to decide whether schools are liable to pay such charges. If it is decided that schools are liable for such charges, the cost would form part of the normal running costs of schools and would fall to be met from the capitation funding which schools have received from the Department. It would not be feasible for the Department to introduce specific schemes whereby grant assistance would be provided to schools in respect of individual charges such as water charges.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 765: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the policy which exists in respect of the provision of funding to enable schools to pay for water charges, in view of the fact that an EU directive obliges Ireland to implement water metering and water charges for all non-domestic customers; if an increased capitation grant based on a water allowance per child would be an appropriate environmentally-sensitive measure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10406/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Funding is provided to primary and secondary schools by means of per capita grants, which afford schools considerable flexibility in the use of resources to cater for the needs of pupils. The running costs of primary schools are met by the Department of Education and Science's scheme of capitation grants, which is intended to contribute towards the general operating costs of national schools. The standard rate of capitation grant has been increased substantially in recent years, from €57.14 per pupil in 1997 to €133.58 with effect from 1 January 2005. It was further increased by €12 per pupil with effect from 1 January 2006, bringing the standard rate to €145.58. This represents an increase of almost 155% in the standard rate of capitation grant since 1997.

At second level, the standard per capita grant which stood at €256 per pupil in the 2001-02 school year has been increased by a further €12 to €298 per pupil from January 2006. Under the school services support fund initiative, secondary schools will benefit from the further significant increases. The grant that was increased for secondary schools from €131 per pupil in January 2005 to €145 per pupil has been increased by a further €14 per pupil to €159 per pupil from January 2006. These grants are in addition to the per capita funding of up to €40,000 per school that is provided by the Department to secondary schools towards secretarial and caretaking services. A secondary school with 500 pupils receives annual grants of up to €270,000 towards general expenses and support services as against annual grants of up to €237,000 in 2002.

Local authority service charges and other charges which are payable to the various local authorities do not come within the remit of the Department of Education and Science. It is a matter for the local authorities to decide whether schools are liable to pay such charges. If it is decided that schools are liable for such charges, the cost would form part of the normal running costs of schools and would fall to be met from the capitation funding which schools have received from the Department. It would not be feasible for the Department to introduce specific schemes whereby grant assistance would be provided to schools in respect of individual charges such as water charges.