Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 736: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the situation whereby local authorities are levying water charges at different rates throughout the country on schools which receive capitation payments from her Department at a uniform rate and where an element of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is imposing these charges on her Department's schools which have received no funding to provide for these charges; if the Government will provide for schools water charges directly from Exchequer funding in the context of the schools annual capitation grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34167/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Schools receive funding by way of per capita grants to meet their day-to-day running costs and enable them to pay for services such as light, heat, water and waste disposal. The value of the capitation grants have improved significantly over the past few years and are set to increase again by €15 per pupil in 2008.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Water Framework Directive requires that the 'polluter pays' principle be applied to the provision of water and waste services to all non-domestic users. However, I am concerned about the considerable variance in the rates being applied by different councils which have left some schools with huge bills.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Programme for Government contains a commitment to examine the provision of waste and water allowances to schools with charges becoming effective after these are exceeded. The implementation of this commitment is primarily a matter for my colleague — the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. However, my Department will of course input to and support the examination to be conducted by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and I have already discussed the issue with the Minister.

In the meantime, we are anxious to enable schools to conserve water and keep their bills as low as possible. New school buildings are being designed with that goal in mind. Measures such as the use of low-pressure spray taps on wash hand basins, dual flushing units on toilets and push button type shower controls are generally used. While these will be of major benefit to the users of new buildings, resources have also been made available that will assist those in existing facilities in considerably reducing their water bills.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government launched a 'Conserve Water in Schools' resource pack last month in association with Dublin City Council. The materials, which are available for download on the council's website, www.dublincity.ie, show children how they can get involved in conserving water and put a stop to water wastage. The campaign is also aimed at school management and lists the kind of things they can do to reduce water consumption in their schools. Steps are, therefore, being taken to help schools to reduce their water bills, to give them extra funding to meet unavoidable costs, and to examine — in the context of the Programme for Government — the introduction of a new system of water allowances.