Dáil debates
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Schools Building Projects.
9:00 pm
Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects as well as the current position in regard to the school referred to by Deputy Crawford, namely, the Model school in Monaghan town.
Modernising facilities in the Department's existing building stock as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth are significant challenges. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of school buildings and to ensure appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. The Department's forward planning section has carried out a study of the country to identify the areas where, due to demographic changes, there may be a requirement for significant additional school provision at primary and post-primary levels in the coming years. This study has been conducted using data from the Central Statistics Office, the General Register Office and the Department of Social and Family Affairs, in addition to recent schools' enrolment data. The study indicates that the requirement for additional primary provision in 2010, 2011 and 2012 is likely to be greatest in 42 selected locations throughout the State, based on significant changes to the demographic profile of those areas. Monaghan town is not one of these areas.
The forward planning section is currently in the process of carrying out an analysis of each of these locations to identify the school accommodation requirements up to and including the school year 2014-15. When the required reports have been completed for these initial selected areas, the section will continue to work on preparing reports on a priority basis for the remainder of the country, which will include the Monaghan area. The school referred to by Deputy Crawford currently has a project in architectural planning to extend and refurbish the existing school. The refurbishment project has been assigned a band 2.6 rating. It is at an advanced stage of architectural planning and a stage 2(a) submission was approved by the Department in March of this year. In issuing that approval, the Department also confirmed approval for an increased floor area for the proposed extension.
The level of demand on the school building programme is such that all projects cannot be carried out together but must be carried out over time in a structured and coherent manner. That is the reasoning behind the Department's published prioritisation criteria. The progression of all large-scale building projects, including the project for the Model school in Monaghan town, is dependent on prioritisation of the competing demands on the Department's capital budget. The building project for Monaghan's Model school will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme for 2010 and subsequent years. However, in light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the delivery of the project at this time.
I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and assure him that the Minister is committed to advancing the project when resources permit.
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