Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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372. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will establish a fund for schools that cannot meet their running costs in order to end the practice of demanding voluntary school contributions. [7368/23]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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373. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has circulated a memo and-or advice to school boards of management or principals requesting them not to make demands for voluntary school contributions in the context of high domestic energy bills and the current high cost of living and period of high inflation. [7369/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 372 and 373 together.

Section 64 of the Education (Admissions to schools) Act 2018, which was commenced in 2018 explicitly prohibits the charging of admission and enrolment fees for admission to or for continued enrolment in a school, with some exceptions such as boarding or fee charging schools.

Voluntary contributions may be sought from parents, provided it is made clear to parents that there is no compulsion to pay. The manner in which such voluntary contributions are sought and collected is a matter for school management, however their collection should be such as not to create a situation where either parents or pupils could reasonably infer that the contributions take on a compulsory character.

My Department provides funding to all recognised schools in the Free Education Scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs including heating, lighting etc. and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. These grants may be regarded as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities.

Furthermore, as part of the Cost of Living measures introduced in the Budget, €90 million was provided in once-off additional funding to support increased running costs for recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme, in particular in dealing with challenges they face in the light of rising energy costs.

This additional grant, which issued to schools recently, was paid at the rate of €75 per pupil at Primary level and €113 at Post-Primary level. Enhanced rates were also paid in respect of pupils with Special Educational needs. Further details are available in Circular 0077/2022 available on the Department’s website and may be accessed at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/circular/467fa-once-off-cost-of-living-measure-to-support-increased-school-running-costs/