John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 182: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the situation in relation to capitation fees paid to secondary schools; the various categories and amounts paid; the reason some categories complain of discrimination vis a vis others. [19451/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The funding arrangements made by my Department for second level schools reflect the sectoral division of our second level system. At the core of all arrangements is a reliance upon capitation as the principle determinant of funding.

My Department provides funding to secondary schools by way of per capita grants, which affords schools considerable flexibility in the use of these resources to cater for the needs of their pupils.

There have been significant improvements in recent years in the level of funding for voluntary secondary schools. With effect from January 2007, the standard per capita grant was increased by €18 per pupil and now amounts to €316 per pupil. In addition, voluntary secondary schools have benefited by the increase of €30 per pupil in 2007 in the support services grant bringing that grant to €189 per pupil.

The cumulative increase of €48 per pupil in a voluntary secondary school brings the aggregate grant to over €500 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. For example in the case of a secondary school with 500 pupils, this brings annual grants towards general expenses and support service to over €290,000. This represents an increase of 83% since 2000.

Budget allocations for schools in the VEC and C&C sectors are increased on a pro rata basis with increases in the per capita grant. All schools are eligible for recurrent per capita grants towards special classes and curricular support grants.

These significant increases in the funding of post primary schools are a clear demonstration of my commitment to prioritise available resources to address the needs of schools. My Department will be considering, in line with the Programme for Government commitment, how best to complete the process of equalisation of funding at second level.