Vol. 487 No. 2
38 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education and Science the additional resources, if any, he will make available in 1998 to improve sports facilities at primary and second level schools, in preparation for the inclusion of sports and physical education as a second level subject. [3539/98]
Physical education facilities encompass indoor PE halls, outdoor hard play areas such as basketball and tennis courts and playing fields at post-primary level. General purposes rooms are provided at primary schools. Virtually all schools have at least one element of these facilities.
It is the policy of my Department to provide PE halls as part of the schedule of accommodation for all new post-primary schools. PE halls are also provided when a major extension to a school which does not have such a facility is being built. In addition, my Department has a programme for providing PE halls as stand-alone projects at post-primary schools which do not already have this facility and it is anticipated that a number of such projects will proceed to construction during 1998.
In all cases, the appropriate range of physical education equipment is provided as part of the project. At primary level, general purposes rooms are provided as standard in all new schools of four or more classrooms. The capital allocation for buildings in 1998 is £41.8 million at post-primary level and £39.3 million at primary level. All projects which proceed to construction in 1998 will be financed from within these allocations.
