Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 October 2004
329 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Education and Science if she intends to carry out the recommendations of the Health and Safety Authority as a matter of urgency for a science laboratory in a school (details supplied) in County Clare; if her attention has been further drawn to the authority’s report which was forwarded to her; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26182/04]
View answerIn accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989, it is the responsibility of school management authorities to have a safety statement in place in their schools. Schools are obliged to identify possible hazards, assess the risks to health and safety and put appropriate safeguards in place.
Individual school authorities are responsible, in the first instance, for ensuring the safety and welfare of children and others in their care. It is open to school management authorities or individuals to make direct contact with the Health and Safety Authority in relation to matters of concern to them. Where they are issued, notifications from the Health and Safety Authority are sent to the management authorities of schools, in the first instance.
Provision is built into the school building programme to enable schools to address urgent health and safety problems. The summer works scheme was introduced during 2004 which provided capital grants for small-scale improvement works at primary and post-primary schools during the summer holidays. A total of 457 schools were approved for funding under this scheme in 2004. The 2005 summer works scheme has recently been published with a closing date of 5 November 2004 for receipt of completed applications. I have made arrangements for an application form for the 2005 summer works scheme to be issued to the school concerned.
Grant aid of €3,500 per science laboratory was available to all schools at post-primary level to enable them provide the revised science syllabus for the junior certificate examination. In addition, further funding was provided to schools, which did not have major capital investment to their science facilities since 1995. These grants have been paid to all schools that notified my Department that they were opting into the revised syllabus. The school in question made no application for grant aid under this scheme.
In addition, the architectural planning process has been completed for a proposed large-scale building project for the school referred to by the Deputy and the project is listed in section 8 of the 2004 school building programme. The project has been assigned a band two rating by my Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects. Upgrading of the existing science laboratories in this project were not warranted at the commencement of this project, however, in light of the school's current concerns, I have made arrangements to have the school visited by an official from my Department's building unit.
