Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Chair for taking this matter about school buildings in County Galway on the Adjournment. I also thank the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy de Valera, for coming to the House.

I am concerned about the 400 building projects on the Department's programme, particularly the 40 in County Galway which are at architectural planning stage. Five of these projects are in Galway city and 35 are in the county. Galway and Dublin are the two counties with the highest numbers of schools at this stage of planning. I know the Minister intends to publish the expenditure proposals for school building in January. I urge him to advise schools of their position at this point.

There is a real need to provide funding for primary schools and I hope the Department's priority will be to invest in primary education. It is the sector most in need of funding at present. I raised the issue of getting low cost buildings when the Minister of State was last in the Seanad. The question of professional fees has arisen and even with prefabricated buildings there is a need for architects, engineers and planning. I do not believe we need to spend so much on professional fees.

While there are 35 school projects in Galway county at the architectural planning stage, there are also a number of schools which need assistance urgently. Four schools in north Galway, two of which are in adjoining parishes, have applied for new buildings. Cahergal near Tuam has applied for a new school and in the same parish Bearna Dearg national school is on the list for improvements. In the adjoining parish Newtown girls' national school and Brierfield national school need assistance and I hope progress will be made on them next year.

I remind the Minister of State of the urgency of investing in primary education. The Department has invested in remedial teachers, resource teachers, classroom assistants and the psychological service, but it has fallen down badly in terms of providing new buildings. I hope the Department will be able to provide information in the new year regarding its plans to spend money on primary education.