Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 June 2004
127 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress made to date in meeting the commitment given in An Agreed Programme for Government that every school building should attain modern set standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19490/04]
View answerIn line with the commitment to tackle sub-standard school accommodation outlined in An Agreed Programme for Government, 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. This year 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 had commenced in previous years and are currently nearing completion. Furthermore, over 570 additional 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 my 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 underinvestment in school infrastructure. The budget announcement regarding multi-annual capital envelopes will enable me to adopt a multi-annual framework for the school building programme, which in turn will give greater clarity regarding projects that are not progressing to tender in this year's programme, including this particular school. I will make a further announcement in that regard during the year.
The Government remains committed to continuing the work that it has started and to consolidating the substantial progress that has already been made to ensure that the needs of schools throughout the country are met over time. The process of investment in educational infrastructure begun by the previous Government will be continued as outlined in the agreed programme for Government.
