€25m cut for fee-paying schools ‘will cost jobs’

A €25 million cut in Government support for fee-paying schools would end up costing jobs in a sector already affected by education cutbacks, a teachers’ union has claimed.

An Bord Snip Nua recommended the 25% cut over a number of years in the €101 million paid annually towards teachers’ salaries in the 58 fee-paying second-level schools. It said the schools raise €119m a year from fees and, with other income from religious orders and other sources, they should be required to meet a greater proportion of their own costs.