Vol. 572 No. 5
107 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Education and Science if he intends to give an increased capital allocation for primary schools in 2004; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many primary school buildings need modernising; the minor grants for capital works which are available for the primary sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23697/03]
The Deputy will be aware that the precise level of funding allocated to primary building projects is being determined in the context of the ongoing 2004 Estimates campaign.
I am pleased to advise the Deputy that I am negotiating with my colleague, the Minister for Finance, to put in place a multi-annual capital funding envelope for the next four to five years. I consider that the provision of such an envelope for the schools building programme will provide greater clarity for all education partners concerning the progress of projects within the programme. The Government remains committed to continuing the work that it has started and to consolidate the substantial progress that has already been made in order to ensure that the needs of schools throughout the country are met over time. The process of investment in educational infrastructure begun by the previous Government will be continued as outlined in An Agreed Programme for Government.
The 2003 schools building programme was published on 22 January 2003 and amounted to €342.9 million, four times the amount allocated in 1997. The 2003 programme will deliver over 140 large scale projects at primary and post-primary level. In addition, several hundred schools will benefit in some way from the capital programme and of course all primary schools benefit directly from the devolved grants scheme for minor works.
An innovative feature of this year's programme is the introduction of a devolved building initiative for small rural primary schools. Twenty school communities will benefit from this pilot initiative. The feedback from schools on this initiative is very positive and most of the 20 schools will have commenced construction works before the end of this year.
