Schools Refurbishment.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 November 2004

Tuesday, 2 November 2004

Questions (403)

Seymour Crawford

Question:

475 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the fact that teachers and pupils working in the science department at a school (details supplied) in County Monaghan have to work in classrooms where the windows are in extremely poor condition; if the necessary funds will be made available to do the necessary repairs for the sake of the children especially; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27151/04]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Science (Ms Hanafin)

The school authority in question was allocated a grant of €370,200 in July 2004 on a devolved basis for science laboratory refurbishment. It is not the practice of my Department to increase the amount of a devolved grant that has already been allocated to a school. It is a matter for school authorities and their design teams to tailor the overall projects to suit the grant amount allocated.

A central tenet of the devolved scheme is that a school authority granted discretion and guaranteed funding to enable immediate progress on its accommodation needs, must equally accept responsibility for prioritisation, control of costs and ensuring value for money. The school in question has been notified of the summer works scheme 2005.