DEBRA E. JAMES,
Madam, - Seán Flynn's article (November 27th) on the involvement of the Health and Safety Authority in an effort to ensure that the improvement works are completed in dilapidated primary schools and those without adequate facilities failed to mention that national schools are privately owned, in the majority of cases by the Churches.
The 1996 Report of the Constitution Review Group revealed the proportions of funding to be met by the State and the owner of a school: "In relation to capital funding the school patron/trustees must provide the full cost of the site on which the school is located and a proportion ranging from 5 to 15 per cent of the cost of erecting and furnishing the school.... The reality is that the State grant of £45 per pupil per annum is heavily subsidised by the local community to meet the full running cost of the school."
As the owner of the property and material beneficiary of the operation of a school in the property they own, surely the patron or trustees - in most cases the Churches - should bear greater financial liability for ensuring that the buildings they own are kept in such a state of repair that they do not pose a threat to public safety? Yours, etc.,
DEBRA E. JAMES, Cummerduff, Gorey, Co. Wexford.