What steps are the Department taking to address the growing financial anomalies, difficulties or pressures facing many schools, particularly in relation to the rising costs of heating, electricity, and day-to-day operational expenses that any school would incur? Will increased funding will be made available in those circumstances for schools that want to continue to function effectively and safely through the winter months?

Like the Deputy, I am acutely aware of pressures schools can be under and the subsequent pressure on parents and the school community. That is why the Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools. The programme for Government very clearly commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet the elevated day-to-day running costs. They are not immune to the increasing costs we have seen across the board.

The commitment in the programme for Government builds on the progress which has been made in recent years. This year specifically, my Department secured €39 million in budget 2026 towards increased capitation funding. This is on a permanent basis so instead of once-off funding, this will go directly into the base for primary, post-primary and special schools. There has also been an increase for the DEIS urban band 1 schools, where there is a particular challenge. We have seen an increase in the standard capitation rates to schools of €50 per pupil for primary schools and €20 per student for post-primary schools. We have also allowed for the increase of €20 in capitation rates for the DEIS urban band one schools and the increased capitation rates will now also see special schools receiving the same rates of capitation rates for young people aged 12 years and over.

The increases announced in budget 2026 are in addition to the 12% increases as part of budget 2025. In the last three budgets there has been an overall increase of 49.7%. That said, I appreciate there is more work we need to do and more support we need to provide.

We need to look at how we permanently reduce the costs and one of the ways I believe we can do that is to look at our energy costs. A photovoltaic, PV, solar programme has been rolled out across many of the schools and, already, the feedback I am getting from the schools I have been engaging with is that schools are starting to see a reduction in their overall energy bills. It is really important we can permanently reduce the cost for schools.

My Department is looking at a body of work to assess the overall data within schools to examine what are the actual costs, where are the hidden costs that maybe we do not see every day that can emerge and add a significant challenge to schools if they are not planned for or pre-empted and of course there is the pressure that this places on the school.

Separate from that is the financial support services unit, which specifically engages and works with schools when they are in difficulty. The unit can advance particular payments to schools to help them during difficult times. I encourage any school in that situation to make sure it engages with the section and with the particular groups involved.