Vol. 443 No. 4
28 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Education the steps, if any, she will take to remedy the defects identified in the recent INTO survey which named 170 seriously sub-standard schools in terms of accommodation; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
I welcome the survey in question as an addition to the information already available to my Department. In relation to the 170 schools identified by the INTO as being substandard, the position is as follows:
—20 have already proceeded to construction as part of the 1993 capital programme
— 23 have had their problems addressed by a project already underway or already sanctioned under the minor and emergency works scheme
—42 are on the list of major projects to go to construction in 1994.
Of the remaining 85 schools
—65 are under consideration for inclusion in the programme of major works in 1995 or under the minor and emergency scheme
—19 are schools in respect of which no application for improvement has been made
—1 school is due to close in 1994.
My Department has recently launched a comprehensive national survey of primary school accommodation following an initial pilot study scheme in approximately 20 representative national schools. It is intended that this national survey will be completed by July of this year.
As I have said in reply to previous parliamentary questions, I accept there is an urgent need to continue a high level of investment in the capital programme for primary schools. The Programme for Government 1993-1997 reflects this necessity by undertaking that there will be increased expenditure in each of those five years on the school building programme.
