Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the detailed proposal from the school referred to by the Deputy. I am aware there has been extensive engagement over the past few years on this issue with my Department, and that this particular school had made representations previously.

The funding arrangements for post primary schools reflect the sectoral arrangements which exist at post primary level. Voluntary Secondary schools in the free education scheme are funded by way of per capita grants. Funding provided to schools in the Education and Training Board (ETB), Community and Comprehensive sectors is primarily based on budgets determined by my Department. At the core of these arrangements is reliance upon capitation as a key determinant of funding. Enrolments are the main driver in the level of funding provided.

Some equalisation measures have been introduced to rectify historical inconsistencies in the funding arrangements for Voluntary Secondary schools. It is estimated that up to €21m was provided in equalisation funding in the period up to 2009.

As agreed with the Joint Managerial Body (JMB), who are the management body representing schools in the voluntary sector, future improvements in equalisation funding is to be directed in the first instance at the elimination of the School Salary grant deduction from the capitation payable to Voluntary Secondary Schools. This salary grant deduction amounts to €563 per teaching post.

Budget 2020 provided funding to cater for a 20% reduction in the School Salary Grant deduction commencing in the 2020/21 school year. This will bring the deduction down from €563 to €450.40 per whole-time equivalent teaching post.

DEIS - Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level. My Department will spend over €150million on supports for schools under the DEIS programme in 2021. DEIS supports are targeted at supporting the educational outcomes of those pupils most at risk of educational disadvantage, and are not intended to cover the day to day costs of the school as is the case with capitation funding. Such supports are applied equitably across all DEIS post-primary schools, irrespective of the patronage or governance model for a given school.

Evidence from the evaluation of the DEIS programme to date demonstrates that it is having a positive effect on tackling educational disadvantage and improvements in educational outcomes have been experienced across each of the post primary sectors.

It is existing policy to equalise the gap in general funding between post-primary schools in the different sectors and some progress has been made in this regard. In any further plans to equalise this gap through the reduction of the School Salary Grant, my Department will give full consideration to the challenges faced by DEIS Voluntary Secondary Schools. However, there are no plans to change the allocation of DEIS resources to address differences in school funding which apply on the basis of the sectoral division in the post primary system on the basis that DEIS resources are already applied in an equitable manner across all DEIS post-primary schools.