Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to take this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe who, unfortunately, cannot be present. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and to outline the current position in relation to Cam national school, Gurteen, County Sligo.

Cam national school applied for a new four classroom school and the project was assigned a band rating of 2.2. The existing school site is very restricted at 0.2 acres and is not suitable for expansion. The school authorities have advised the Department that a parish site could be made available. The Minister for Education and Science visited the school late last year and noted the pressures on its current accommodation which is more than 120 years old. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to progress this project in the current economic circumstance.

As the Deputy will be aware, all applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity and so on leading ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution.

As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it.

There are four band ratings overall, of which band one is the highest and band four the lowest. For example, band one projects include the provision of buildings where none currently exist but there is a high demand for pupil places while a band four project makes provision of desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities. Each band rating has several sub-categories which more specifically describes the type of works needed and the urgency attaching to them. A band rating of 2.2 has been applied to the project for Cam national school under this process.

The Deputy will also be aware that the allocation for school buildings in 2009 is €614 million, which 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 this Government to investing in school infrastructure and will permit the continuation of progress in the overall improvement of school accommodation. However, the level of demand on the school building programme is such that all projects cannot be carried out together. They will have to be carried out over time in a structured and coherent manner and this is the reasoning behind the Department's published prioritisation criteria. The project for Cam national school will be carried out consistent with this approach. In the intervening period, the school can apply for temporary accommodation to meet its needs if this is necessary.

I want to thank the Deputy again for raising this matter.

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