Seán Barrett
Ceist:132 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of schools which have multi-user access to the Internet; and the basis on which schools are charged for internet use. [11839/00]
Written Answers. - Schools Internet Access.
My Department estimates that at least 17% of schools have multi-user access to the Internet at present. I will have more accurate information on this matter later in the year when the results of research being carried out for my Department become available.
Under the Information Age Schools initiative of Eircom, and in co-operation with the Schools IT 2000 initiative of my Department, every school in the State has been provided with the following at no cost to the school: a telephone line, an Internet connection and five hours per week telephone line usage for accessing the Internet. Costs for accessing the Internet outside of the five-hour free period per week are borne by the individual school.