Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 December 2020
346. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education if the minor works grant for primary schools is being brought forward from 2021; and if this means there will be no minor works grant in 2021. [41700/20]
View answerAs you are aware I announced an additional €55 million in minor works grants for primary and post-primary schools to be paid in early December, 2020.
The €55 million payments involves:
- bringing forward from 2021 the standard €30m minor works grant at primary level
- an additional €25m funding for Covid-19 related Minor Works at post-primary level;
This payment of these grants has now issued in December 2020. In this regard, the payment of these grants have been paid in advance to allow schools a good lead-in period to plan and undertake works that support the operation of the school in the current school year and assist in catering for capacity and other requirements going into the 2021/22 school year. The continuation of the approach of providing schools with a good lead-in period to plan and undertake works with future tranches of minor works funding in 2021 and beyond will be kept under review by my Department having regard also to the overall availability of financial resources.
