571. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Education and Youth the total amount of public expenditure incurred in each of the years 2019 to 2025; the allocation or projected expenditure for 2026, in supporting the governance of recognised post-primary schools; for the purposes of the reply, to include all Departmental, agency, ETB, school-level and Department-funded third-party expenditure that is recorded or capable of being estimated in relation to boards of management, patrons, trustees, management bodies, finance sub-committees, board training and induction, financial-governance supports, the financial support services unit, audit and accountancy compliance, board travel and subsistence, legal costs, State indemnity, insurance, management-body grants or subventions, and any other identifiable governance-related support; to provide the information by year, sector, funding stream, recipient body, purpose and amount; the expenditure not separately identifiable because it is embedded in capitation, ETB administration, payroll, school-generated income or other global allocations; to set out the basis of any estimates used and the data sources consulted, including FSSU returns, ETB accounts and Departmental subheads, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39511/26]

573. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Education and Youth based on annual accounts, FSSU returns, ETB accounts or any other financial data available to her Department, the aggregate amount spent by recognised post-primary schools in each year from 2019 to 2025 on governance-related items, including board expenses, travel and subsistence, audit and accountancy, legal and professional fees, insurance, board training, finance sub-committee costs, compliance costs and trustee or patron-related costs; to provide the information by sector and by category of expenditure; and, where this information is not separately available, the nearest available accounting categories; and whether her Department intends to collect such data in future. [39513/26]

574. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Education and Youth the amount of expenditure incurred by Education and Training Boards in each year from 2019 to 2025, and projected for 2026, in supporting the governance of ETB post-primary schools, including board of management administration, induction, training, policy support, compliance, appeals, legal advice, secretarial support, meeting administration and any central ETB governance-support functions; and if she will provide the information by ETB, year, category and amount. [39514/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 571, 573 and 574 together.

My Department collates available data from school authorities as part of broader efforts to provide for an efficient and effective education system.

The Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU), funded by the Department, provides an important source of advice and support to schools on financial matters, including budgeting and cashflow management.  Additionally, the FSSU assists school boards of management in meeting their financial accountability obligations under the Education Act 1998, including ensuring that certain accounts will be made available for inspection by the Minister and by parents of students in the school. The FSSU operates and collects school financial data in accordance with Department of Education and Youth Circular 0060/2017 (Primary), and Circular 0002/2018 (Voluntary and Community and Comprehensive).

For the years requested, the Department of Education and Youth holds a subset of financial data relating to primary, voluntary secondary, and community and comprehensive schools. This information is derived from the annual financial returns submitted by schools to the FSSU, a subset of which is subsequently provided to my officials to inform financial analysis and strategic decision-making.

From the subset of data currently held, the Department is unable to isolate certain specific expenditure. The table below sets out the aggregate expenditure in euros for the categories requested by the Deputy, where available.

Aggregate Governance Related Expenditure (€)

*2024/2025 contains data for 10 community and comprehensive schools’ roll numbers not included in the previous years’ data extract (2019-2024)

Education and training boards (ETBs) are funded by my Department via a range of pay and non-pay budget allocations in respect of their schools and head offices.

In the ETB sector, a financial allocation is made to each ETB to fund its schools and head office, and the grant is based on the overall student numbers across the ETB and its non-pay head office running costs.  ETBs are given a high level of autonomy in the management and appropriation of this grant, and each is allowed to distribute in line with its own priorities and identification of need. Funding for ETB post-primary schools is provided in line with the funding arrangements applicable to all post-primary schools.

The data requested for the ETB sector is not readily available as accounts for post-primary schools in this sector are incorporated into the overall accounts of the ETBs.

My Department has a comprehensive plan to improve data quality to ensure that comparable financial data is available for primary and post-primary schools.