Vol. 414 No. 10
121 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Education if he will have an allocation made to a school (details supplied) in County Cork for the six classrooms and three science laboratories with preparation rooms and toilet facilities which were constructed and completed by mid-September 1990 and for which no grant was paid even though indications were given by his Department that a grant would be paid.
My Department's scheme of building grants for second level schools requires that all projects must be planned in accordance with the Department's design procedures and that no commitment is entered into without the prior approval of the Department.
In the case of this school, while initial agreement in principle had been reached in 1987 to provide additional classroom accommodation the planning of the project did not proceed further due to the many other commitments in planning or construction and financial constraints.
It is understood that the school went ahead in 1990 and constructed a substantial amount of accommodation at its own expense, and now seeks grant aid. The decision to proceed was taken by the school without the prior written agreement of the Department. In the circumstances because of the many demands on the scarce resources available and the need to allocate funds in an orderly way, I regret that it would not be possible to approve a retrospective grant for the building.
