Vol. 499 No. 1
873 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Science the proposals, if any, he has which would enable his Department to finance in part or in whole the cost of the sites for national schools in view of the difficulties being experienced by parishes in financing the purchasing of necessary lands for these schools. [28334/98]
I recently announced a new initiative in the State funding for school buildings whereby the State will offer to meet the entire cost of new sites, for both primary and post-primary schools. In the case of a primary school which requires a new building and wishes to avail of the new initiative, the State will purchase the site and the level of local contribution will be reduced to 5 per cent, or capped at £50,000, whichever is the lesser amount. In the case of a special school or a school designated as serving an area of disadvantage, the cap is reduced to £10,000.
This change will benefit local communities and parishes who experience difficulty in raising the finance necessary towards site purchase and the payment of a local contribution.
