Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 November 2011
107 Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to progress the amalgamation of schools (details supplied) in County Sligo into a new school building to be constructed on a council owned site in the centre of the town. [34939/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraFollowing clarification secured from the Deputy's office, I can confirm that a major capital works application was submitted to my Department in respect of a new school for the proposed amalgamation of two schools in the area to which he refers. The application was assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale projects and assigned a band 1 rating.
Information in respect of the current school building programme along with all assessed applications for major capital works, including the project in question, is available on my Department's website at www.education.ie.
As an interim measure, my Department provided funding in excess of €270,000 to the schools to facilitate improvement works to the electrical system, roof, disabled access and for the replacement of temporary accommodation. My officials also met with representatives from both schools in February 2011 to discuss the status of the proposed project.
The Government's Medium Term Infrastructure and Capital Investment Framework, which was published on 10th November 2011, sets out the demographic challenge facing the education system in the coming years. In conjunction with this, I indicated that I will publish details next month of the school building projects to be constructed in 2012. Early in the new year, I will publish a five year plan outlining the projects to be constructed in that time. Given the constraints on capital funding, the Government has to prioritise school building projects and the very real need to ensure that every child has access to a school place.
108 Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills the progress made on the school planning and building programme in counties Dublin, Laois and Offaly. [34940/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraInformation in respect of my Department's School Building Works Programme for 2011, including those projects in the counties referred to by the Deputy is available on the Department's website at www.education.ie.
The status of each project on the programme is updated at regular intervals to reflect the current position.
