THE BILL for malicious damage to schools comes to more than £1 million a year, according to the insurance industry.

Church and General, which insures all Catholic primary and secondary schools - almost 3,500 schools in all - paid out £1.32 million in respect of 523 claims in 1994 and £803,000 for 585 claims last year. No figures are available for the remaining 500 or so schools, which are insured with a variety of other companies, but it's fair to assume they suffer similar levels of damage.

Dublin accounts for the majority of claims over the past two years. In 1994, there were 302 claims in the capital, which cost £882,000. This compares to 329 claims last year, amounting to a total of £390,000.

Those 1994 figures were inflated by three large claims, which cost £430,000. The 1995 figures do not include the bill for a huge fire in central Dublin which cost £2.7 million; this was split between the school, the religious order and the local community.

However, most claims processed by Church and General are for minor damage, costing between £1,000 and £2,000.

According to Ursula O'Brien, group head of claims with Church and General, the busiest time is Monday morning. "There are certain areas where we know at least one principal will ring us after the weekend with a report of broken glass, small fires maliciously set, break ins and burglaries."

Because the company controls so much of the schools' insurance business, it manages not to load the premium of schools which have made previous claims. One worry is the increasing amount of hi tech and expensive equipment in many schools - such as videos and computers - but O'Brien says this is not a big factor in claims, at least so far.

"Since all schools are insured, the disruption caused by attacks is often the greatest problem. After all, what can you do when the windows have been smashed on a cold winter's day but send the students home?" she asks.

TO HELP schools avoid such incidents, Church and General organises regular seminars on risk management, as well as providing general advice in its newsletters to customers. When a serious fire occurs, the school is visited by a specialist in deterring such vandalism.

Three years ago, Tallaght Community School suffered an arson attack which destroyed one wing and disrupted classes for months. But as bad as the physical damage was, the psychological impact was even greater.

"It was like a psychological body blow," one teacher says. "The principal was only two days into the job, and then he was hit with this."

There has been a happy outcome of the Tallaght story, with the opening last week by the Taoiseach of an impressive new refurbishment, built at a cost of £1.5 million. But alongside the welcome new facilities, such as an all purpose hall, a library and a canteen, there is also a new emphasis on security, with palisade fencing surrounding the school.