Phil Hogan
Ceist:78 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress, if any, he has made in overcoming remaining obstacles to establish a points system for allocating funds for refurbishment to schools in need. [11111/98]
Written Answers. - Schools Refurbishment.
Following a detailed process of selection, my Department has appointed a consultant to undertake the following tasks: (i) identify the criteria to be used in selecting school building projects for funding, taking account of current policies and priorities in the area of planning and provision of school accommodation; (ii) undertake a process of consultation with a number of educational bodies which have been nominated by my Department in order to ascertain their views on the question of prioritisation and, in so far as is possible, to take account of those views in the development of the proposed system; (iii) develop a system of prioritising school building projects based on the criteria identified and the consultations undertaken and (iv) develop an action plan for the implementation, monitoring and review of the system.
My Department has written to all of the relevant representative bodies in the primary and post-primary education sectors requesting written submissions and the nomination of contact persons to assist in the process mentioned at (ii) above. Meetings will shortly be arranged between these contact persons and the consultant. Following this, the consultant's report and recommendations will be submitted to my Department for consideration.