Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire in Broadford, County Kildare, an exceptional national school with 60 pupils, is typical of a lot of rural national schools around the country that have a reduction in school numbers and therefore a reduction in capitation. This is posing a challenge for many rural schools. The Financial Support Services Unit has engaged with the school and has essentially used it as a best-case example of a national school doing the most it can with the capitation it has. However, there is a clear issue with capitation funding for rural schools with declining school numbers. I ask that the Department of Education and Youth review the capitation funding for small rural schools to ensure their longevity and that they do not have to continue fundraising year in and year out for vital services such as electricity. It is important to state that this is an exceptional school, with exceptional teachers and exceptional students.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. He is saying it is an illustrative example of the challenges when numbers are reducing and then the impact on capitation. We did increase capitation by a record amount of €20 in the latest budget, which is unprecedented in terms of the scale of the increase. The Deputy has raised a very interesting point that I will bring to the attention of the Minister in terms of the next budget. He is essentially proposing a tiered structure that would take into account the impact of declining numbers in rural schools. That is certainly food for thought and I will talk to the Minister in respect of it.