Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2004
175 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason no vocational school in County Wexford was included in the recent announcement of the €30 million additional funding for primary and post-primary schools; his views on whether inadequate investment in educational facilities in County Wexford is conductive to the aim of relocating 270 civil servants from Dublin to County Wexford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14138/04]
View answerSchools selected for inclusion in the recent announcement of a further €30 million investment in school buildings were selected not by reference to their status or location but rather by reference to priority band rating, position in the architectural planning process and the ability of the projects to draw down funding during 2004.
My Department is currently reviewing educational provision in a number of locations in County Wexford. Any identified deficiencies in the educational landscape will be considered in the context of a multi-annual school building programme from 2005, which is being prepared within my Department. I expect to be in a position to make further announcements on this matter in the course of the year.
176 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will review the band 2 designation assigned to phase 3 of the St. Peter’s College building programme with a view to advancing the project to tender during 2004, in view of the fact that Wexford third level campus, an outreach centre of Carlow IT, now has 150 full-time students with a projected figure of 180 for September 2004, is located on the campus of St Peter’s College secondary school, Wexford, and that many of the 270 civil servants who are to relocate to Wexford are likely to wish to enrol their children in St Peter’s College secondary school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14139/04]
View answerThe criteria used for prioritising large-scale primary and post primary school building projects is set out in appendix 1 and 2 of the 2004 school building programme which is published on my Department's website www.education.ie
As I announced when publishing the programme, a key strategy for school building projects will be grounded on the budget day announcement of multi-annual allocations for capital investment in education projects. All projects that are not going to construction as part of the 2004 school building programme will be re-evaluated with a view to including them as part of a multi-annual building programme from 2005 onwards. This strategy will provide better clarity for schools in terms of when they can expect their projects to proceed.
As the first step in the review process, my Department carried out consultations with the education partners in relation to the prioritisation criteria used for large-scale building projects. The purpose of these consultations was to ensure that the criteria has optimum precision and are fully tuned to meeting the priority accommodation needs of the primary and post primary sectors. I expect to be in a position to make a further announcement in this matter later this year.
