Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2004
261 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has identified the top 50 second level schools in the country which suffer most from overcrowding or inadequacy of buildings or other facilities; his plans to address such deficiency with particular reference to the need for compliance with health and safety standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14656/04]
View answer262 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has identified the top 50 primary schools in the country which suffer most from overcrowding or inadequacy of buildings or other facilities; his plans to address such deficiency with particular reference to the need for compliance with health and safety standards. [14657/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 261 and 262 together.
The school planning section of my Department is responsible for planning the provision of suitable cost effective accommodation both in response to applications from school managerial authorities for accommodation and by analysis of changing demographics. All resultant projects, whether extensions to existing schools or new schools in rapidly developing areas, are prioritised by reference to published criteria. These criteria are structured to ensure that schools most in need of accommodation are assigned a band 1 priority rating.
In fulfilment of my Department's commitment to tackle sub-standard school accommodation the level of capital investment in schools has progressively increased since 1998 to a total of almost €2 billion, the largest investment programme in the history of the State. The position in relation to any school or category of school is that their needs must be processed as part of the overall programme and must be assessed individually within the published prioritisation criteria.
My Department's school building programme of €388 million will deliver in excess of 260 significant school building projects at primary and post-primary level. In excess of 200 of these projects will commence on site in the current year, the remaining projects having commenced in previous years and are currently nearing completion. Furthermore, approximately an additional 600 schools will benefit in some way from the capital programme directly by means of temporary accommodation, permanent accommodation and-or improvement works and all primary schools will benefit directly from the devolved grants scheme for minor works.
The challenge facing my Department is how to ensure the State gets best return on investment in educational infrastructure. New ways such as the devolved building initiative for small rural schools and the permanent accommodation initiative, both initiated in 2003 and expanded this year, show the Department's commitment to find innovative and flexible solutions to the difficulties faced by schools seeking to refurbish their buildings or to provide additional accommodation quickly. These schemes fund schools to respond quickly to accommodation difficulties. There is minimal interaction with my Department and schools are fully empowered to drive the design and construction process. I fully expect that these initiatives will inform future policy.
My Department has never underestimated the scale of the task and the level of capital funding and other resources required to rectify decades of under- investment in school infrastructure. The announcement in the last budget in relation to a multi-annual capital envelope will greatly assist my Department in addressing school accommodation needs in a programmed and systematic way.
