Lucinda Creighton
Question:478. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Education and Skills the proposed and ongoing building programmes and new school establishment programmes in Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8. [43233/14]
View answerTuesday, 11 November 2014
Questions (478)
Written answers
The current status of all projects on the school building programme, including those for the areas referred to by the Deputy, may be viewed on my Department's website at www.education.ie which is updated regularly throughout the year.
The Deputy will also be aware that the Five Year Construction Plan that was announced in March 2012 outlines the major school projects that are scheduled to commence construction over the duration of the Plan. These have been prioritised in areas where significant demographic need has been established, including areas referred to by the Deputy, so that our school system is in a position to cater for increasing pupil numbers. In that regard, my Department will also consider applications from individual schools for devolved funding to meet an immediate accommodation requirement because of increased enrolments or where an additional teacher has been appointed.
Further to the Five Year Plan, my Department is committed to publishing a detailed annual programme in relation to individual major school projects commencing construction. In this context, annual programmes have been published for 2012, 2013 and 2014. All three plans, including projects for the areas in question, are available on my Department's website. My Department expects to be in a position to announce details of the 2015 Plan towards year end.
In addition, due to additional funding made available for the schools' building programme as part of the Government's "Investing in Infrastructure and Jobs" package, 28 school projects that were not contained in the Five Year Plan but had completed extensive architectural planning are now being progressed to tender and construction. Details are available on the Department's website.
The Deputy will be aware that under my Department's Prefab Replacement Initiatives 2012 and 2013, in excess of €57 million was allocated to replace prefab units with permanent accommodation nationally. The list of schools approved under these prefab replacement schemes is available on my Department's website.
The Forward Planning Section of my Department continuously monitors and analyses demographic data for all areas of the country, including the areas referred to by the Deputy, to anticipate emerging needs and to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet those needs.