Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am taking his Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government strategy for capital investment in education projects and to outline the current position of the application for capital funding from Nicker national school, County Limerick.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well as the need to respond to the emerging needs of areas of rapid population growth is a significant challenge. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure that appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

The planning and building unit in the Department of Education and Skills assesses all applications for capital funding. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need arising, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity, etc., and leads ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution.

The staffing level at Nicker national school comprises a principal, three mainstream teachers, one shared permanent learning support teacher and one shared permanent resource teacher. The school had an enrolment of 94 pupils in September 2009. In July 2010, the school submitted an application for grant aid for major capital works to the school building. The application is for an extensive refurbishment of the existing accommodation and an extension to provide additional classrooms, a general purpose room and other appropriate ancillary accommodation. The application is being considered and assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. This assessment process will take account of the factors to which I have just referred.

The priority attaching to individual projects is determined by published prioritisation criteria, which were formulated following consultation with the education partners. There are four band ratings under these criteria, each of which describes the extent of accommodation required and the urgency attaching to it. Band 1 is the highest priority rating and band 4 is the lowest. Documents explaining the band-rating system are available on the website of the Department of Education and Skills. When a band rating is confirmed for this proposed project, it will be added to the list of all assessed applications for major capital works, which is also available on the website.

The progression of all large-scale building projects - including this project - from initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme. However, in light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not currently possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project.

In the interim, I can confirm that the school authority applied for funding under the summer works scheme 2010 for external works to the school. This was the category of works which the school chose to prioritise in its application. I am pleased to be able to confirm that the school's application was successful and that it received funding under the summer works scheme earlier this year. These works have now been completed and all the funding has been drawn down by the school authority. The school was also awarded contingency funding in respect of works to the building earlier in the year. I am pleased to confirm the school authority has also drawn down this funding.

I again thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the current position regarding the school building project for Nicker national school, County Limerick. I took note of what he said earlier and of the queries he raised in respect of this matter. I will bring his comments to the attention of the school building section.

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