To ask the Minister of Education for her assessment of the impact on schools as a result of rising energy costs.

I recognise that energy price rises will result in increased utility bills for schools and I fully acknowledge the concerns expressed by our school leaders in this regard.

For this reason, I will be instructing the Education Authority to allocate almost £5m of additional funding to schools to mitigate against the combined impacts of rising energy costs coupled with increased ventilation in schools during the winter months. Schools will be notified of their individual allocations in due course.

In the meantime, any school facing financial difficulty should contact the EA, as funding authority for grant aided school, in the normal way.