John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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384. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to increase funding to voluntary secondary schools to address the anomaly whereby the moneys received by these schools are comparable to ETB schools, but the spend on issues such as lighting, insurance and so on which are funded in ETB schools are not covered in voluntary secondary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46543/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides funding for all Post-Primary Schools, including those in the Voluntary Secondary Sector, towards day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, general upkeep, the stocking of libraries and the purchase of equipment.

The funding arrangements in the Voluntary Secondary School Sector are based on per capita grants provided by my Department.  Some equalisation measures were introduced to rectify historical inconsistencies in the funding arrangements for this sector of post-primary schools. It is estimated that up to €21m has been provided in equalisation funding between 2001 and 2009.

The funding arrangements in the Community & Comprehensive sector and the ETB sector are primarily based on budgets determined by my Department.  The enrolment in the individual schools is the main driver of the level of these budgets.

The level of disparity in the funding arrangements between the three sectors would need to be revisited to determine what remains to be done on the equalisation agenda.