I met representatives of the INTO this morning in Buswells Hotel where they were doing a presentation. I have also had calls from many school principals about the capitation grant they are getting. It is €200 per child, and it has been at this level for 13 years. The ancillary services grant is also dated. It is true to say the Government has provided once-off funding post Covid to help these schools but they are now at a stage where they need the capitation and ancillary grants to be increased. This is because they cannot afford to employ their caretakers or to do anything outside of normal spending. They are actually using the reserves they have to try to pay for running costs in schools. This is something that needs to be looked at in the long term in the budget. The capitation and ancillary grants need to be updated by an amount that will make the difference between survival and not.

I thank the Deputy very much. I think the budgetary process gets earlier every year. I very much understand the serious issues raised by the INTO and I thank the organisation for doing so. From my engagement with schools, I know the cost pressures they are facing are real. The Government does, obviously, want to help support our schools. The way we will do this, obviously, will be through the budget. I think we have good form in this regard because the Deputy referred to the extra funding we provided to deal with Covid costs. There was also the unparalleled capital budget in terms of school extensions, expansions and refurbishments. Significant improvements have also been made in pupil-teacher ratios, SNA numbers and special educational needs. We will look at all the issues around how best to support our schools in the budget. I thank the INTO for its submission today.