Vol. 550 No. 2
606 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason his responses to Parliamentary Question No. 211 of 13 February 2002 and Parliamentary Question No. 171 of 21 February 2002 are exactly the same, but do not confirm when a building programme for Our Lady of Mercy primary school, Kells, County Meath will commence or the stage at which the contract is; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7854/02]
The allocation for primary school buildings in 2002 is €153.6 million, which is a record level of funding and demonstrates the Government's commitment to improving accommodation in primary schools. This is almost four times the previous Government's investment in 1997. In view of the greatly increased level of activity in the primary buildings area since the Government came into office, there has been a substantial increase in the number of major and minor building projects in construction and this has given rise to a record level of building and refurbishment activity. A proposed building project for the Convent of Mercy national school, Kells will proceed to architectural planning and to the preparation of tender documents as soon as possible under the expanded building programme.
