Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. As he has indicated Davis College is a coeducational vocational school under the aegis of County Cork VEC. It has a current enrolment of 565 pupils, including 361 mainstream pupils and 204 PLC pupils. The school is located in a recently completed new building which cost in excess of €4.5 million.

An application under the 2004 summer works scheme, made by County Cork VEC, sought funding towards improved playing pitch facilities at Davis College. All applications under the scheme were considered and, in the context of available funding for the scheme and the number of applications received for that funding, it was not possible to approve all applications including the application from Davis College.

An application from the VEC under this year's summer works scheme sought funding for the upgrade of the electrical system at the college. This was in line with the advice to applicants to apply for one project only so that funding could be spread over as many schools as possible. I am pleased to inform the Senator this application was successful and the VEC has recently been informed that grant aid of €187,000 has been allocated for this work. As the funding available under the 2005 summer works scheme, amounting to over €62 million, has been allocated, it is not possible to consider any further applications in the current year. It is, of course, open to the school's management authority to apply for funding for the project under the 2006 summer works scheme, details of which will be published later in the year.

I assure the Senator that the Government has never underestimated the scale of the task and the level of capital funding and other resources required to rectify decades of underinvestment in school infrastructure. The budget day announcement regarding multi-annual capital envelopes will enable the Department of Education and Science to adopt a multi-annual framework for the schools building programme. The Department is confident this will allow it to make significant and visible inroads into our educational infrastructure deficits.

I appreciate that the Senator has raised a very important issue. I suppose he inadvertently thanked the Minister for the money Davis College did receive. I am sure he will have the opportunity next year to pursue further the necessary funding, perhaps under the 2006 summer works scheme. The school's authorities will be able to apply under this scheme at the end of this year.