Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 February 2024
131. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Education to clarify why a school (details supplied) has been refused approval for an application under the emergency works programme for an urgent project to address a situation that is causing health and safety hazards to staff and children in this school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8427/24]
View answerThe Emergency Works application to which the Deputy refers sought funding for the replacement of floor coverings throughout the school. The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding for unforeseen emergencies. Issues such as floor coverings would generally fall under the area of general maintenance, and funding such as the Minor Works Grant is made available by the Department to assist schools with issues such as these. The complete replacement of floor coverings would not fall under an emergency situation and, as such, the application was refused by the EWS team within my Department.
The school appealed the EWS decision and the Department asked for an itemised cost breakdown (ICB) for only the area(s) which might be giving rise to the health and safety issues, to date this ICB has not been submitted. If the school wish to send in this ICB the EWS team can assess the appeal in light of the ICB.
