The call, from Maynooth Educate Together, follows efforts from Educate Together, the patron body for multi-denominational schools in Ireland, to lobby for an increase in this grant, which is paid to new schools in their first year of operation. The Start-Up School Grant is typically used to buy school office equipment, staff room essentials, and classroom resources.
This grant was introduced in 2001, and since then it has not been increased from the clearly inadequate sum of €6348.
Maynooth Educate Together Start Up Group claim that this grant needs to be increased to €30,000. "This figure of €30,000 is based on evidence of schools that have opened in the recent past, and would be much closer to the figure needed to sufficiently finance the opening of a school" claimed a spokesperson for the group.
Their campaign has received the support of local public representatives, including Emmet Stagg T.D., who have indicated that they will bring the matter to the attention of the Minister for Education & Science.