Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 Jun 2001

Vol. 537 No. 5

Written Answers. - School Accommodation.

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Ceist:

87 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress to date in producing a post-primary accommodation database and a computerised database of expenditure for all State-funded schools as recommended by the Blackstock report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17128/01]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods)

My Department's priority in relation to obtaining further information on schools is the development of a computerised database on school accommodation.

In this regard, my Department has initiated a tender process for a pilot project involving the organisation and undertaking of a comprehensive inventory of accommodation of approximately 120 primary and post-primary schools and the compilation of the resulting information on a geographical information system, GIS, database.

A detailed assessment of the Department's requirements has been completed, specifications have been drawn up and a notice adver tising this tender competition was recently forwarded for inclusion in the Official Journal of the European Communities, OJEC. The competition has also been advertised in the main national newspapers.

Depending on the degree of interest in the tender competition, it is expected that the contract will be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2001. The pilot project will be used as the basis for a nationwide expansion of the inventory to include all primary and post-primary schools.