Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount of money granted in 2006 to fee paying schools under the summer works programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40152/06]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 131: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount of money granted under the school building programme to fee paying schools to date in 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40153/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 131 together.

There are 59 fee-charging second level schools in the country; of which 1 is Jewish, 21 Protestant, 2 inter-denominational and the balance Catholic.

Applications for funding under the Summer Works Scheme 2006 were approved in respect of 15 fee-charging schools at a cost expected to be €1.395m. This is 1.78% of the total estimated cost of the Scheme for 2006 which is €78m.

The information sought by the Deputy in relation to all categories of capital grant-aid granted to fee-charging schools under the 2006 School Building and Modernisation Programme is not readily available in my Department. The Deputy will appreciate that my Department may provide capital grant-aid to recognised schools under a variety of headings in addition to the Summer Works Scheme e.g., building grants and associated Design Team fees, emergency works, furniture and equipment, remediation programmes, etc.

School building projects, whether for fee-charging schools or schools in the free education scheme, are selected for inclusion in the School Building and Modernisation Programme on the basis of priority of need using published criteria. Considerations of State support for minority religions has been an important factor in the provision of funding for such schools, given that much of the fee-paying sector has traditionally been made up of Protestant schools and those with a minority religious ethos.

The amount of capital funding given to fee-paying schools has been extremely small in recent years. For example, in the period 1999-2004, the total amount of capital funding given to fee-paying schools represented just 1.6% of total second level capital expenditure.