To ask the Minister of Education for a breakdown of how much rent has been paid for (i) land; and (ii) premises belonging to churches in Northern Ireland, over the last 10 years.

The Education Authority paid rent of £172,812 for land/premises owned by churches for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2022. Details are not available for the period prior to April 2016, and it has not been possible to break this figure down further between land and premises, as rents for land and premises are not separated but are coded jointly to a single finance code. The records show that the payments were made to seven churches for land/premises owned by them.