Written answers

Tuesday, 21 November 2006

Department of Education and Science

Departmental Expenditure

9:00 am

Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 513: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department will increase the investment in second level education here; if her attention has been drawn to the recent OECD report which shows that Ireland is almost at the bottom of the international league in terms of investment in second level education relative to the country's economic wealth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38521/06]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The most recent OECD Education At A Glance report provides figures for 2003/04 which fail to reflect the major increases in second level funding in recent years. Spending by my Department on second level education has increased dramatically since 2003. In 2005, €2.7 billion was spent on second-level education — up from €2.3 billion in 2003 and €1.25 billion in 1997. The Estimates provision for second level education is €2.9 billion, while in the 2007 Estimates we have provided €3.2 billion for investment in second level education next year. This means that we are allocating 54% more for second level education in 2007 than we did in 2002.

The increases provided by this Government have allowed for major progress to be made both in the staffing and in the day-to-day funding of our schools. Since the financial year referred to in the OECD report — 2003 — second-level schools have benefited from substantial increases in funding for their day-to-day costs. The standard capitation grant of €266 per pupil in 2003 now stands at €298 per pupil and the support services grant for secondary schools has been increased from €127 per pupil in 2003 to €159 per pupil in 2006.

I wish to draw the attention of the Deputy to my announcement of further significant increases in the context of the 2007 estimates. From 1 January next the standard per capita grant will be increased by a further €18 to €316 per pupil. In addition, for voluntary secondary schools the support services grant will be increased by €30 per student, which includes a further equalisation measure, to €189 per pupil. This aggregate increase of €48 per pupil will bring the cumulative increase in the per capita and support services grants for voluntary schools since 2003 to €112 per pupil. These grants are in addition to the per capita funding of up to €40,000 per school that is also provided by my Department to secondary schools towards secretarial and caretaking services. Significant improvements have also been made in the staffing of our second level schools in recent years. With the creation of over 2,000 additional posts and the retention of over 2,100 posts which would otherwise have been lost due to the fall in enrolments, there is now one teacher for every 13 students at second level.

The provision that I have made, in the context of the 2007 estimates, for these significant increases in the funding of secondary schools is a clear demonstration of my commitment to prioritise available resources to address the needs of schools.

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