Vol. 550 No. 2
611 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the new arrangements being made for the building of a second primary school in Ratoath, County Meath; if these arrangements involve using an off-the-shelf design for the school in order to accelerate building; when he expects planning permission can be sought for this school; and when he expects the contract to be placed assuming there is no difficulty with planning permission. [7859/02]
The allocation for primary buildings in 2002 is €153.6 million, which is a record level of funding and demonstrates the Government's commitment to improving accommodation in primary schools. This is almost four times the previous Government's investment in 1997. In view of the greatly increased level of activity in the primary buildings area since the Government came into office, there has been a substantial increase in the number of major and minor building projects in construction and this has given rise to a record level of building and refurbishment activity.
At a recent meeting with a deputation from Ratoath national school, officials from my Department proposed the use of an existing generic design for a 16 classroom school as a means of fast tracking the architectural planning process for the new school in Ratoath. My Department is awaiting a response from the board of management regarding these proposals. The Deputy will appreciate that issues relating to the granting of planning permission are solely a matter for Meath County Council.
