Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 25 Nov 1998

Vol. 497 No. 3

Written Answers - Physical Education Facilities.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

200 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Science the allocation included in the 1999 Estimates for construction of physical education halls in post-primary schools; the halls to be constructed; his views on physical education; if St. Michael's girls' secondary school, Finglas, Dublin 11, will have a hall erected in 1999; and, if not, its position on the priority list. [25141/98]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin):

It is the policy of my Department to provide physical education halls as part of the schedule of accommodation for all new post-primary schools. A PE hall is also provided when a major extension to a school, which does not have such a facility, is being built. In addition my Department has a programme for providing PE halls as stand-alone projects at post-primary schools which do not already have this facility and a number of such projects have proceeded to construction in the current year.

The question of providing a PE hall at St. Michael's secondary school, Finglas, Dublin 11, can only be considered in the context of capital available for post-primary building purposes generally. Because of the demand for additional classroom accommodation in schools throughout the country, I am not in a position at this stage to state when a PE hall will be provided in this particular case. However, I assure the Deputy that this application will continue to be considered in the light of available finance and competing priorities.