Ned O'Keeffe
Question:117 Mr. E. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education the current position regarding the provision of funds to a school (details supplied) in County Cork which urgently requires an additional room. [11698/97]
Written Answers. - Schools Building Projects.
The school to which the Deputy refers has requested grant-aid towards the provision of a general purposes room. While I am anxious to extend the provision of this facility in primary schools, the pace at which this can be achieved will be dictated by the financial resources available and the priority must remain the provision of essential classroom accommodation and the elimination of sub-standard classroom accommodation. Therefore, at present, my Department is not in a position to provide funds towards this project. The Deputy will be aware that there were major cuts in the capital funding of primary schools in the 1988-92 period and, consequently, despite improvements in funding since 1993, there is a backlog of deserving projects.