Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1595: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on an extra allocation of capitation funding for schools in the northern geographical parts of Ireland as a direct consequence of colder climatic conditions which result in additional usage of fuel consumption in order to provide adequate heating conditions for students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1779/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Schools' running costs are met by my Department's scheme of capitation grants. These grants are intended to contribute towards the general operating costs of schools which would include heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, painting, teaching aids and other miscellaneous charges.

The primary school capitation grant has been increased substantially in recent years. Since 1997 the standard rate of capitation grant has been increased from €57.14 per pupil to €163.58 from 1st January, 2007. This represents an increase of over 186% in the standard rate of capitation grant since 1997.

The amount of grant paid to an individual school is determined by the enrolment in the school subject to a minimum grant of €8,734.80 in the case of a school with 60 pupils or less and a maximum grant of €72,790 in the case of a school with 500 or more pupils. Furthermore enhanced rates of capitation funding are paid in respect of children with special educational needs who attend special schools or special classes attached to mainstream schools. The current rates range from €400.00 to €619.50 per pupil.

The standard rate of capitation grant is paid to all primary schools except Gaelscoileanna located outside of Gaeltacht areas which receive an additional €25.39 per pupil over and above the standard rate grant. There have been significant improvements in recent years in the level of funding for voluntary secondary schools.

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 2007 the standard per capita grant was increased by a further €18 to €316 per pupil. In addition, the support services grant was increased by a further €30 for voluntary secondary schools, which includes a further equalisation measure, to €189 per pupil. For such schools this cumulative increase of €48 per pupil brings the aggregate grant to over €500 per pupil from 1 January next. 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. For example in the case of a secondary school with 500 pupils, this brings the annual grants towards general expenses and support service to over €290,000.

The provision that I have made, in the context of the 2007 estimates, for these significant increases in the funding of schools is a clear demonstration of my commitment to prioritise available resources to address the needs of schools. I have no plans to introduce regional variations in capitation rates, as suggested by the Deputy.