Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his views on whether Protestant voluntary secondary schools should be treated in the same manner as schools in the free education scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31964/09]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 110: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his views on whether Protestant voluntary secondary schools are a distinct group and cannot be equated with other fee charging schools for the purposes of funding and pupil teacher ratio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31965/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 110 together.

I wish to reassure the Deputy that I, along with my colleagues in Government, recognise the importance of ensuring that students from a Protestant background can attend a school that reflects their denominational ethos. The Deputy will be aware that I have met with representatives of both the Church of Ireland Board of Education and the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland to discuss the funding position of Protestant schools and the background to the decision in the October budget to remove certain grants from fee-charging Protestant schools.

I have emphasised that no changes have been made to the block grant, which is expected to be €6.5 million in this school year. It covers capitation, tuition and boarding costs and is distributed through the Secondary Education Committee established by the churches concerned. This fund ensures that necessitous Protestant children can attend a school of their choice. I wish to advise the Deputy that my officials have met representatives from the Secondary Education Committee to discuss future funding arrangements for Protestant schools. In this context, I have expressed my willingness to consider any proposals that might be made to my Department that would enable the available funding to be focused and adjusted to more effectively meet the twin objectives of access for individuals and sustaining the schools that they wish to attend, particularly those in rural areas.

The October Budget implemented changes in how all fee-charging schools are treated in relation to the number of publicly funded teaching posts they are allocated. With effect from 1 January 2009, teachers in fee-charging schools are allocated at a pupil teacher ratio of 20:1, which is a point higher than allocations in non fee-charging post-primary schools. In view of the challenging economic circumstances that we are facing, I am not in a position to reverse this decision.

This decision is justified on the basis that schools which have access to fees as an income source are in a better position to maintain services at a time when the public finances are under such severe pressure. Fee-charging schools can continue to employ additional teachers that they fund from their fee income. I will continue to work with representatives of the Protestant educational sector to ensure that State funding made available to the Protestant community is targeted in the fairest way possible to meet the needs of their children and their schools.