Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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174. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to consider giving greater devolved power over school spending to school management; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53081/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Section 15 of the Education Act 1998 requires the board of management, in carrying out its functions, to have regard to the efficient use of resources and, in particular, to the efficient use of State funds.

Schools’ expenditure is comprised of several factors such as salary costs, capital expenditure and current expenditure.

Salary costs:

The direct salary costs for teachers and SNAs staff are paid for centrally by the Department, as the Department allocates these staff to schools in accordance with published schedules and pays these salaries through its payroll systems. Secretaries that have accepted the WRC agreement who have onboarded to Department payroll are also now paid directly from the Department’s payroll systems and the ancillary grants for the school have been reduced accordingly.

Ancillary staff that are paid by the school are funded via the ancillary and capitation grants paid to schools as per Circulars 0040/2009 and 0048/2009 - /www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/services/capitation-grant/

Capital Expenditure:

The Department offers a range of capital funding supports to schools through devolved schemes, including the Minor Works Grant, which provides school management with autonomy to use this funding for maintenance and small-scale improvements to school buildings and grounds, recognising that each school setting is unique and that individual schools are best placed to determine how best to use this funding to meet their particular needs.

Current expenditure:

Boards of Management have a statutory duty to ensure that appropriate systems and procedures are in place to ensure school financial resources including grants are managed appropriately and efficiently and in a manner that provides for appropriate accountability to the relevant parties. All expenditure by or on behalf of the board of management must be approved by the board and by the relevant ETB for community national schools and ETB schools.

The Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools and the Programme for Government commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet the elevated day-to-day running costs.

The commitment in the Programme for Government builds on the progress which has been made in recent years, including an over €30 million permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and longer term with increased day-to-day running costs through Budget 2025. This represents an increase of circa 12% on current standard rates and enhanced rates. This has resulted in the standard rates increasing from €200 to €224 for primary schools and from €345 to €386 per student in post-primary schools with effect from September 2025. Over the last two Budgets there has been a circa 22% increase in the level of capitation grant rates paid to schools. Enhanced rates are also paid in respect of pupils with special educational needs and Traveller pupils.

The Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary 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 such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation funding provided for general running costs and ancillary funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities, except for the employment of relevant secretaries as per Circular 0036/2022.

The current standard rate of capitation grant is €224 per pupil in primary schools and €386 per student in post-primary schools. Primary schools with fewer than 60 pupils are paid the capitation and the ancillary grants on the basis of having 60 pupils.

In addition to these grants, €45 million in cost-of-living supports issued in November 2024 to support all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. This additional funding announced in Budget 2025 is designed to assist schools with increased day-to-day running costs such as heating and electricity. This funding was paid at a rate of €36 per pupil in primary schools and €55 per student in post-primary schools. Enhanced rates were also paid in respect of pupils with special educational needs and Traveller pupils.

Schools should also ensure that they are availing of the available OGP procurement frameworks and are getting best value for money for all school expenditure in accordance with Circular 0060/2013 - circulars.gov.ie/pdf/circular/education/2013/60.pdf. Schools Procurement Unit (SPU), funded by the Department, is an important source of advice and support to schools on procurement matters. Contact details for SPU can be found on www.spu.ie.

The Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU), funded by the Department, is an important source of advice and support to schools on financial matters, including budgeting and cashflow management. Contact details for FSSU can be found on www.fssu.ie.

The Department is aware that costs and funding can pose a problem for schools, and is constantly working to address this matter, and to enhance the financial and other supports available to schools. While not wishing to pre-empt the outcomes of any future Budget negotiations or fiscal parameters agreed by Government, the Department will continue to seek and prioritise the funding required to meet the ongoing costs of running schools.