Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I am responding to the Deputy on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science. I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity of outlining to the House the position of the Department on the provision of a new school building for Gaelscoil na Cruaiche in Westport, County Mayo. Improving facilities in the existing building stock, as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth, is a significant challenge which the Minister for Education and Science has identified as one of his top priorities.

Gaelscoil Na Cruaiche is a co-educational Gaelscoil serving the town of Westport and its environs. The school opened in September 1996 with provisional recognition and was granted permanent recognition in 2000. The school is currently located in temporary accommodation which is funded by the Department. The school is staffed by a principal, eight mainstream assistants, one learning support teacher and one resource teacher, and has an enrolment of over 200 pupils in the current academic year.

The brief for this project entails the construction of a new ten classroom primary school. The project for the proposed new school has been progressed by the Department and is now at an advanced stage of architectural planning. A site has been secured and planning permission for the proposed new school has been obtained. However, it is not possible to progress all projects to construction at the same time. The progression of all large-scale building projects from initial design stage through to construction is dependent on the prioritisation of competing demands on the funding available under the Department's capital budget. The further progression of this project will continue to be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme.

The allocation for school buildings in 2009 is €581 million. This represents a significant investment in the school building and modernisation programme. This level of funding for the building programme, at a time of great pressure on public finances, is a sign of the very real commitment of the Government to investing in school infrastructure. Under the lifetime of the current national development plan, almost €4.5 billion will be invested in school buildings. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post primary schools. This investment will facilitate the provision of new schools and extensions in developing areas and the improvement of existing schools through the provision of replacement schools, extensions or large scale refurbishments. It builds on the delivery of 7,800 building projects under the last national development plan which resulted in the delivery of new schools and the refurbishment of many existing schools.

I assure the Deputy that the Minister for Education and Science is committed to providing suitable high quality accommodation for Gaelscoil na Cruaiche at the earliest possible date. However, in light of current economic circumstances, and with competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time. I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

See this speech in context