Vol. 572 No. 3
285 Mr. McHugh asked the Minister for Education and Science the position in relation to Cahergal national school, Tuam, County Galway; when this project will proceed to the next stage; when this project will proceed to construction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22991/03]
286 Mr. McHugh asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress which has been made in finalising the purchase of a site for a new school to replace the existing school at Cahergal national school, County Galway. [22993/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 285 and 286 together.
An application for grant aid has been received from the management authorities of Cahergal national school. The application is being considered, along with many other applications, for inclusion in any expansion of the pilot devolved initiative. This initiative, which is focused on small, mostly rural schools, is aimed at devolving responsibility for the planning and construction phases of improvement works to school authorities.
The school building programme will be published early in 2004 and will indicate projects which will proceed during the course of the year. The scale of the programme will be dependent on the level of funding being made available for capital projects through the budgetary process. It is not possible for my Department to purchase a site at Cahergal national school. The existing site will have to cater for a refurbishment and extension that could be delivered as part of any expansion of the pilot devolved initiative, or an extension to the site could be purchased by the school authorities from their own resources.
