Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 963: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department has plans to increase the capitation grants payable to post primary schools to cover the annual maintenance and insurance costs of installing lifts for access for students with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1419/08]

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 2008, the standard per capita grant was increased by €15 per pupil and now amounts to €331 per pupil. In addition, voluntary secondary schools have benefited by the increase of €15 per pupil in 2008 in the support services grant bringing that grant to €204 per pupil.

The cumulative increase of €30 per pupil in a voluntary secondary school brings the aggregate grant to €535 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 €300,000.

Budget allocations for schools in the Community and Comprehensive school sector along with those in the VEC sector 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 funding mechanisms in place afford schools considerable flexibility in the use of their resources to cater for the needs of their pupils. This is in my view, in general, a preferable approach to putting in place grants for specific cost items, such as those referred to by the Deputy.

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.