I seek an update on the need for refurbishment work to be carried out at St. Brigid's school in Palmerstown. I have visited the school and seen that there is much work to be done, for example, to repair ceilings and ventilation and so on. It is a good school, housed in an old building and this refurbishment is urgently needed to bring it up to the required standard for the teachers and pupils. They have waited a long time for this work although work has been carried out at many other schools in the vicinity. I hope the Minister of State will give a positive response to this request.
Schools Refurbishment.
I am happy to respond positively to Senator Tuffy's matter. We all acknowledge and recognise the importance of the work undertaken by the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin and her predecessor, Deputy Noel Dempsey, in addressing work of this nature. Since the beginning of the year the Minister has made several announcements regarding the schools building and modernisation programme. This year alone, €270 million will be allocated to primary schools and €223 million to post-primary schools for building works. This represents an increase of 14% on the 2004 allocation.
The programmes supported will include the following: 141 major building projects already on site and more due to go on site soon; 122 major school building projects countrywide which will go to tender and construction during 2005 or early 2006; 192 primary schools which have been invited to take part in the small and rural schools initiative and the devolved scheme for providing additional accommodation; up to 120 schools which have been given approval to rent temporary premises pending delivery of a permanent solution to their long-term accommodation needs; 43 schools which have been authorised to start architectural planning of their major projects; 590 schools which were recently given approval to complete essential small-scale projects under the summer works scheme; and 124 schools to progress through architectural planning.
The new schools building and modernisation programme, 2005-09, will be underpinned not just by a significant increase in overall funding but also by major improvements in the administration of the funding. Devolving more funding to local level through the summer works scheme and the small and rural schools initiative will allow schools to move ahead more quickly with smaller projects. The list I outlined shows many projects are moving forward, a development that will continue.
The authorities at St Brigid's national school applied for major refurbishment works or permanent accommodation in April 1999. The project was given a band 2.3 rating by the Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects in 2005. The Department of Education and Science has included the building project for St. Brigid's national school, Palmerstown, in the recently announced list of school projects to be progressed through architectural planning in 2005.
A design team has been appointed and has submitted stages 1, 2 and 3 of architectural planning, detailed plans and costs. The building unit's technical staff have examined the submission and on 5 May 2005 the school authorities were requested to instruct their design team to submit a revised stages 1, 2 and 3 submission. This submission is awaited. It appears there have been some changes to the school since the design team submitted its original report. Therefore, it is necessary for the school's architect to amend some of the proposed layout to reflect this.
A decision on which school building projects will advance to tender and construction as part of the 2006 schools building and modernisation programme will be taken later in the year. I hope the information I have given to Senator Tuffy is helpful.