Michael Creed
Question:447 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science if he intends to finance the cost of Internet access for all schools in the future. [4569/02]
Written Answers. - Internet Access.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the Government has made a huge capital investment in recent years towards helping schools benefit from Internet access. I recently announced a new €108 million three-year strategic action plan under which a further €80 million in capital moneys will be made available to provide the infrastructure which will enable the Internet to be more widely accessed within schools. Grants totalling €25 million have already issued under Phase 1 of this action plan and grants under Phase 2 will issue in the future.
In conjunction with the Schools IT 2000 initiative, Eircom, under its information age for schools programme, undertook to provide schools with a degree of subsidised access to the Internet. This sponsorship was for an initial period of three years and was generously extended by Eircom for a further two years. My Department has recently been informed that Eircom will not be in a position to further extend the scheme. Current arrangements for subsidised access will, however, continue until the end of this academic year.