Minister of State Alan Kelly has hinted that the €95 million subvention for private secondary schools may be abolished in the next budget.
Speaking on The Week in Politics on RTÉ last night, Mr Kelly said that in principle the days of spending that amount of money on private fee-paying schools had come to an end. The State contributes an estimated €95.6 million to private schools, mainly by paying teachers’ salaries. Schools themselves raise an estimated €100 million from fees.
It is understood that increasing the pupil-teacher ratio in fee-paying schools is being considered as it would lead to a decrease in State funding. The Department of Education has conducted an audit of 55 private schools and a report has been drawn up.