Vol. 529 No. 3
29 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Science the policy in respect of the provision of sports halls in primary and secondary schools; the number of schools awaiting sanction; the numbers which received approval in 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2772/01]
In the case of primary schools, the new planning guidelines in operation for all new building projects since January 2000 make provision for general purposes areas ranging from 91 square metres to 200 square metres, depending on the size of the school.
Where an application is made for major capital improvement works by the management authorities of an existing school, it is the policy of my Department to assess the overall future accommodation needs of the school. If the site is sufficiently large, a general purposes area is included in the planning brief, even when this may not have been the subject of the initial application.
Because general purposes rooms are included as part of the overall schedule of accommodation for primary building projects and are not dealt with in isolation, there are no readily available figures relating to the volume of applications and approvals in respect of these facilities.
Concerning second level schools, it is the policy of my Department to provide a PE hall in all new schools, and in extensions to existing schools where the facility is not available. The size of the hall to be provided varies between 604 Mf7>2 and 806 Mf7>2 depending on enrolment.
The building unit of my Department is in the process of preparing a PE hall template that will standardise the construction of PE halls in post-primary schools generally. Initially, the template will be piloted in a number of schools following which it is envisaged that the template can become available for widespread use.
