I raise a significant issue, which is the funding of DEIS band 1 schools. Over the past number of years, we have seen significant funding go into education. Obviously, the free schoolbooks scheme and the free school meals scheme have been important for parents and education. In some cases, they have been a significant anti-poverty measure. I remember the first year the free schoolbooks scheme was brought in, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul said it noticed a 20% reduction in calls for back to school supports. The operating costs of the school remain the same, though. That is the issue I want to raise. I have been contacted by three different DEIS band 1 schools in our area. They are having difficulty balancing the books in terms of operating costs. It has always been the responsibility of the schools and patrons to manage their own finances and I do not take from that responsibility, but I have had a hands-on opportunity to look at the balance sheet of one of the local schools. In one school, there was €17,000 left in the account for between now and the end of the year. An insurance payment of more than €10,000 was required. There was a payment for gas and electricity and then there was a payment for cleaning staff. There was not enough to pay all of those outstanding bills. The schools in question have been dealing with the FSSU, which is the financial support unit in the Department. In fact, they have been doing it for more than a year. While all schools would welcome increased capitation, there is an issue in schools that may previously have accommodated large numbers. In places like Tallaght, Finglas and many others, schools were often built for 700, 800, 900 or even 1,000 pupils. Unfortunately, in some cases they are operating at 15% or 20% of that capacity, so there are large campuses, but the capitation is now at a much reduced rate. The Department needs a bespoke tool for those schools. While capitation is an important mode of funding and ensures it follows the pupil, schools still have to fund the overall cost of their campuses. If that is not enough, then there needs to be a bespoke solution or we need to look at the long-term viability of the building. Maybe a new building over time on those campuses would be more desirable. I urge the Minister of State to revert to the Minister for Education. I raised this yesterday with the Taoiseach under questions on promised legislation. The benefit of Topical Issues is that we can have more of a discussion about it. The Taoiseach recommended that there be a bespoke solution, and that is where the solution should lie. Principals have enough to do without worrying about cash flow. Some schools might have a little more cash flow because of a sale of land or whatever. Some schools will have more cash flow because they are in a more affluent area and are able to do fundraising. DEIS band 1 schools have a lot of challenges on their books. Some of this may be about shared support for schools, like a group communal insurance policy or a better insurance deal. Some of them are coming off three-year energy and gas deals and that is now having an impact because costs are increasing. In many cases, they have already gone for local solutions for cleaning contracts rather than using contract suppliers and so on. It is an issue that affects all schools across north Dublin and many schools on the southside. In big schools with smaller numbers, capitation is not working. We need to come up with a bespoke solution.

Sentiment score: 0.24

I agree with the Minister of State that the FSSU is an important source of advice. It is the reason two of the schools took part in an analysis of cash flow last summer and again in October. Some recommendations and changes were made. The schools are anxious not to cause concern among parents and the community and wish to engage with the system. The Minister of State will note that I have not named the schools for that reason. There is, however, something else going on. While the capitation grant has increased to €224, if the number of pupils in the school over a short period of time is down 20%, 30% or more, then any sort of cost-of-living or inflationary increase is never going to keep up with that. Equally, if the school is designed for numbers that are four or five times the size of the current school population, the current capitation grant will never deal with that. I know the FSSU was involved in drafting the reply for today’s Topical Issue. I hope officials will take back the suggestion I have made, namely, that a bespoke solution is needed for these large campuses that have significantly reduced numbers. It is not one school or one location, rather something that is common throughout those housing areas that were built 50, 60 or 70 years ago that have these large campuses. Demographic changes have meant that school numbers have changed. While that is not the responsibility of the schools, they are doing their best to try to live up to the issues. We know that in the programme for Government, the Minister has identified DEIS plus, which is really exciting and would be a real support. While there are all these other supports I have mentioned, such as free school meals, free schoolbooks and DEIS plus when it is implemented, when it comes to the day-to-day bread and butter, you cannot butter parsnips if you do not have butter. In this case, we need funding for these schools.

Sentiment score: 0.31