Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2004
194 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Education and Science when the refurbishment of the science facilities in Rice College, Ennis, County Clare, will be sanctioned in order that the school can introduce the new science curriculum in September 2004, as a result of the lack of adequate safe science rooms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13369/04]
View answerSchool authorities at post-primary level were invited to participate in the revised syllabus for the junior certificate examination, as detailed in circular M7/03. Resource grants were made available from my Department's school building section in 2004 to facilitate schools opting into the revised syllabus. It is noted that Rice College made no application for grant aid under this scheme. However, a large-scale building project proposed for Rice College, Ennis, County Clare, is listed in section 8 of the 2004 school building programme, which is published on my Department's website at www.education.ie. This proposed project is at stage 5 of architectural planning. It has been assigned a band 2 rating by my Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects.
When a proposed building project is being assessed in the first instance for consideration of major capital works, the typical procedure is to assess the whole school in respect of an educational, economical and architectural requirement. The assessment conducted by my Department's senior inspector and technical personnel in the matter of the school's current major building programme clearly indicated that the science facilities in the school referred to by the Deputy were in a satisfactory condition, with a requirement to examine the services in the ground floor science laboratory only.
A schedule of accommodation was subsequently drawn up in relation to the school and the school was advised of the determined overall schedule of accommodation, the schedule of suggested future use of the existing accommodation and the schedule of residual accommodation. The proposed building project did not proceed without the written agreement of the school authority of the Department's findings and acceptance of the schedules.
