Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Senator McHugh for giving me the opportunity to outline to this House the Department of Education and Science's proposals regarding the proposed refurbishment and extension project at Ballyraine national school, Letterkenny, County Donegal.

The Department received an application from the board of management of the school in August 1999 requesting the provision of additional accommodation. A full design team has been appointed and architectural design of the project is progressing. The project is currently at stage 3 of architectural planning — detailed plans and costs. It has been assigned a 'band 2' rating by the Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects.

Ballyraine national school building project is listed in section 8 of the 2004 school building programme. I am pleased to inform the Senator that the projects listed in section 8, including the Ballyraine national school project, will be authorised to progress to advanced architectural planning during 2004.

The budget announcement regarding multi-annual capital envelopes will enable the Department of Education and Science to adopt a multi-annual framework for the school building programme which, in turn, will give greater clarity regarding projects that are not progressing in this year's programme, including Ballyraine national school, Letterkenny. The Minister will make a further announcement in that regard during the year.