Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006
760 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science when she expects the school building programme to reflect the needs of areas experiencing a rapid increase in population; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26450/06]
View answerThis Government has invested in the largest school building programme in the history of the State. Between 1998 and the end of 2004, almost €2 billion was invested in school buildings and in the region of 7,500 large and small projects were completed in schools — including 130 brand new schools and 510 large scale refurbishments/ extensions. Indeed, funding for school building and renovation projects has increased five-fold since 1997. In 2006, €491 million will be spent on school building projects, compared to just €92 million in 1997. This, in its own right, is an increase of over 9% in real terms on the 2005 allocation.
As the Deputy will be aware, at the end of last year I outlined my spending plans for primary and post primary schools for 2006. With €491 million to be spent on schools buildings, there will be over 1300 projects active in schools all over the country. This significant investment will allow me to continue to progress our major programme of school building and modernisation which includes improving equipment needed for new technologies and ICT.
With regard to rapidly developing areas specifically, my Department prioritises the provision of new and enhanced educational facilities in these areas. The prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects which were revised following consultation with the Education Partners allocates a top priority band 1 rating to school building projects in such areas and the School Building Programme is reflective of this fact. In this regard, I have outlined to the Deputy on a number of occasions details of the projects planned for and/or underway in his own constituency which will bear out this fact.
On top of prioritising projects for rapidly developing areas, radical changes in how projects are planned and managed have also made a major difference in ensuring that provision is delivered in line with or ahead of demand.
I can assure the Deputy that the Government is fully 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, regardless of their location, are met as expeditiously as possible.
