Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 417: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her proposals to assist deaf parents of school-going children to interact with school principals and teachers; her views on the obligation of her Department in such instances to provide accessible services to people with disabilities under the Disability Act 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29394/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Schools' running costs are met by my Department's scheme of capitation grants which affords schools considerable flexibility in the use of these resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. These grants are intended to contribute towards the general operating costs of schools. This flexibility allows schools to engage interpreters to facilitate interaction with deaf parents where necessary. 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 1 January, 2007. This represents an increase of over 186% in the standard rate of capitation grant since 1997.

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 €418 to €805 per pupil. 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 Community and Comprehensive 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. The provision that I have made 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 so that they are already accessible to people with disabilities. I have no plans to introduce further specific measures.