Chapter 2 — Finance

Adequacy of funding

In the Opening Submission to the Artane module, the Christian Brothers stated : The level of grant aid was a constant topic of discussion between the Resident Managers Association and the Department of Education, the former continually insisting that the grants paid were seriously inadequate.

The Congregation went on: The validity of the position held by the Resident Managers is strongly supported by the findings of the Kennedy Committee and by comparison with the levels of grant paid to similar institutions (Approved Schools) in neighbouring jurisdictions.

The Submission then went on to compare the cost to the State of a residential school in Northern Ireland with Artane and concluded that when salaries and other costs were taken into account, the school in Northern Ireland was in receipt of considerably more funding than its counterpart in the South. In particular, the Congregation compared the stipend paid to all the Brothers in Artane with salaries paid in Northern Ireland and found the southern payment to be considerably less.

Artane was a large well-appointed institution with many advantages including a large and productive farm. Letterfrack, on the other hand, was a considerably smaller institution and although it had a very large farm (amounting to some 827 acres), it was not good farming land and was very labour-intensive.

In the opening statement to the Letterfrack module, the Christian Brothers addressed the issue of funding and again made comparisons with Northern Ireland in order to ground a contention that funding was inadequate. The submission stated that Letterfrack was only able to survive because of the produce of the farm, which provided food for the school and also generated some additional income.

No special case of under-funding was made for Letterfrack although the much smaller numbers, particularly after 1954, were a cause of considerable hardship to the boys there.

The submission for Tralee adopted a more instructive approach. Although it did make comparisons with UK residential schools, it also set out wages paid to workers in the school for 1945, 1952 and 1962 and compared the stipend paid to all Brothers in the school with those wages. This is explored in more detail below.

Carriglea Park made the same submission in relation to adequacy of capitation as the other Christian Brothers’ schools and, like them, cited the Kennedy Report as support for their position. This school closed in 1954 and, according to the opening statement: A surplus of £25,225 was generated between 1940 and 1954. A number of factors contributed to this surplus, a major one being the age of the building. It was built in 1893 and was not in need of major renovation while the school remained open.......The number of boys in the school was a viable one once it reached its promised certified number of 250 but it was the rises in maintenance grants in 1947 and 1948 that finally brought the accounts out of an annual deficit situation.

This did not appear to be an adequate explanation for the surplus money in this institution at its closure and indicated a significant level of funding until 1954.

Other Congregations made submissions on the question of funding.

In their opening statement, the Oblates compared the cost of caring for a child in a residential institution today with the money paid to the Oblates for doing this job. They adjusted these figures for inflation and concluded that, by current standards, it would have cost the State £10,060 to keep one boy in Daingean in 1950. The Oblates received £52 for keeping each boy there. Much of their submission was based on valuing the work done by the Order for the benefit of the school and this is dealt with fully below.

The Sisters of Mercy made a submission on the issue of funding in its opening statement for Goldenbridge. They stated: From the interview with the former Resident Manager and from the limited records available it is clear that there was a constant struggle to provide even a basic standard of living for the children within the limits of the funding provided to Goldenbridge right through until the 1970s....

The Sisters set out what they understood the capitation grant was intended to cover: The capitation fees......were expected to cover wages and salaries for an average of eight or nine staff, and other overheads such as food and clothing, fuel and light, insurance, repairs to the buildings, purchase and replacement of furniture, recreation expenses, hardware and all the usual household appliances.

Although they did not specifically refer to capital expenses, it would appear from this opening submission that the Sisters did not expect the capitation grant to cover capital costs.

The Sisters related the expenses of Goldenbridge to ordinary household expenses at the time, which they submitted as being a valid comparator: Where annual accounts are available they show that overheads alone accounted for around 60% of the total funding received, leaving just around 40% ...for food, clothes, Medical care and recreational activities. The 1940s, 1950s and the 1960s were difficult times for every household in Ireland struggling to make ends meet on limited incomes and it was no different for the Resident Manager of Goldenbridge. Difficult decisions had to be made on competing needs.