The proposed refurbishment and extension project for the school referred to by the deputy is at an early stage of architectural planning. All projects in the Schools Building and Modernisation Programme are assessed on the basis of need against published prioritisation criteria.
As the Deputy will be aware, while some capital funding has traditionally been given to minority ethos fee-paying schools such as the Presbyterian school referred to, the amount of capital funding given to fee-paying schools has been extremely small in recent years. For example, in the period 1999-2004, the total amount of capital funding given to fee-paying schools represented just 1.6% of total second level capital expenditure.
Considerations of State support for minority religions has been an important factor in the provision of funding for such schools, given that much of the fee-paying sector has traditionally been made up of Protestant schools and those with a minority religious ethos.