Written answers

Wednesday, 3 October 2018

Department of Education and Skills

Capitation Grants

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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136. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the consideration he has given to the costings included in an organisation's (details supplied) pre-budget 2019 submissions; and his views on whether capitation grants need to be increased in line with rising day to day costs such as inflated insurance premiums. [40179/18]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the pre-Budget 2019 submission referred to by the Deputy and can confirm that while it would cost approximately €17.6 million to restore capitation to pre-2011 levels for Primary Schools, the overall cost of restoring capitation funding for all sectors is circa €35.6 million.

However, I do recognise the need to improve capitation funding for schools having regard to the reductions that were necessary over recent years. Restoring capitation funding as resources permit is one of the actions included in the Action Plan for Education and I remain committed to achieving this. However, I must be prudent in the context of ongoing budgetary pressures and prioritise where it is not possible to do everything that I would like to do in the education sector in any one year.

In the last two budgets, I made provision for 6,000 extra teachers and 3,000 extra SNAs and over 3,000 new middle management posts. These resources were allocated to improve the learning experience right across the sector, with a particular focus on children with special needs.

Budget 2018 marked the second year of major reinvestment in the education sector, as we continue to implement the Action Plan for Education, which has the central aim to make the Irish Education and Training service the best in Europe within a decade.

In 2018, the budget for the Department of Education increased by €554 million to over €10 billion. Through budget 2017 and Budget 2018, we are now investing €1 billion more in education.

Improvements have been made for the restoration of grant funding that is used by schools to fund the salaries of ancillary staff. The ancillary grant was increased by €6 in 2016, €5 in 2017 and €5 in 2018, in order to enable primary schools to implement the arbitration salary increase for grant funded school secretaries and caretakers and to also implement the restoration of salary for cleaners arising from the unwinding of FEMPI legislation.

Responsibility for procurement of insurance and payment of same rests with Boards of Management in respect of schools operated by them. If a particular school has a query in relation to the cost of insurance it should raise this directly with its insurance provider. Boards of Management should take a proactive approach when it comes to sourcing insurance in order to ensure best value is obtained and to ensure compliance with public procurement procedures. Schools Procurement Unit which has a national remit is available to advise and assist schools in relation to procurement matters.

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