Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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187. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the financial supports available to primary schools across the State to provide important life skills such as swimming lessons. [37641/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department and its support services continue to work to support all schools and teachers to deliver the full breadth and balance of the curriculum. Physical Education is a core part of the curriculum at primary level which seeks to satisfy the physical needs of the child through a consistent and comprehensive experience of movement and play that challenges the child to realise his or her individual physical potential.

Physical Education is one of seven curriculum areas within the Primary School Curriculum which was introduced in 1999. A minimum of one hour of physical education per week is recommended for all primary school pupils. The curriculum has been structured so as to allow individual schools a high degree of flexibility and choice in the planning of a broad and balanced Physical Education programme for pupils, and includes six broad strands featuring Athletics, Dance, Gymnastics, Games, Outdoor and Adventure activities and Aquatics.

The Physical Education curricula at both primary and second level have been developed on the understanding that facilities available to schools vary. Consequently, they offer a level of flexibility that allows each individual school to design a programme that can be delivered using the resources and supports available to it.

Where schools decide to provide pupils with swimming classes in school time, they are expected to fund them from resources already available to them. Under the Rules for National Schools, while voluntary contributions may be sought, no school may charge a fee as a condition of admission to an activity provided within school hours.

The new Primary Curriculum Framework (PCF) published on 9 March 2023 will guide the development of the specifications for each of the curriculum areas. The development of the Wellbeing specification, which is to include Physical Education, is underway and will be completed for introduction into schools in the 2025/2026 school year. To support this, Oide are currently considering the professional learnin which will be made available to all schools for the rollout of the new Wellbeing specification.

For information, my Department is committed to providing funding to all recognised schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation and ancillary funding as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities. The current standard rate of Capitation grant is €200 per pupil in primary schools.

In addition to these grants, €20 million in funding was issued in October 2023, to support all recognised schools in the free education scheme. This funding was the first tranche of an overall additional €60 million funding announced as part of Budget 2024 measures designed to assist schools with increased day-to-day running costs such as heating and electricity. A further €40 million in funding was delivered in early 2024.

As part of the capitation package in Budget 2024 I was pleased to have secured €21 million as a permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and longer term with increased day-to-day running costs. This supports a permanent restoration of funding for all primary and post-primary schools from September 2024. This brings the basic rate of capitation grant to the pre-2011 level of €200 per pupil in primary schools and €345 per student in post-primary schools. Enhanced rates are also paid in respect of pupils with special educational needs and Traveller pupils. This represents an increase of circa 9.2% of current standard and the relevant enhanced capitation rates.