In a study entitled Governance and Funding of Voluntary Secondary Schools in Ireland (2013) by Merike Dermody and Emer Smyth, the ESRI has published research findings on how schools in the various post-primary sectors are funded, paying particular attention to the funding of voluntary secondary schools. The research demonstrates the disparities in the levels of State funding as well as the reliance on voluntary contributions from parents. The report underlines implications arising from the research for school trusts.

Ms Anne Kelleher, CEO CEIST, which is the largest trustee body in the country stated:

School trusts will welcome this report and the new and comprehensive research on which it is based. It underlines the increasingly difficult financial reality in which the voluntary education sector in Ireland finds itself. The report offers a timely platform for debate at a number of levels, including between the trusts themselves, to ensure that a valuable component of heritage and expertise in education is not to be lost.