Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising the matter because it affords me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin.

Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area and the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. As evidence of this commitment, more than €540 million will be spent in the coming year on building and modernisation projects in primary and post-primary schools. Since 1997, a total of €3 billion has been invested in school buildings and this has delivered more than 7,800 school building projects. This further investment of more than €540 million will build on these achievements and will focus in particular on the provision of school accommodation in areas where the population is growing at a rapid rate.

National development plan funding of €4.5 billion will be invested in schools over the coming years. This is a testament to the high priority the Government attaches to ensuring that school accommodation is of the highest standard possible. On top of this, to reduce red tape and allow projects to move more quickly, responsibility for smaller projects has been devolved to school level. Standard designs have also been developed for eight and 16 classroom schools to facilitate speedier delivery of projects and save on design fees. The design and build method is also used to expedite delivery where the use of standard designs is not possible. Taken with the unprecedented level of funding available, these initiatives ensure building projects are delivered in the quickest timeframe possible.

Craughwell national school is a co-educational primary school and enrolments at the school have increased from 171 in 2002 to 248 currently. Officials in the Department of Education and Science have completed their assessment of projected enrolments and have determined that the long-term projected staffing for Craughwell national school will be for a principal plus 12 mainstream teachers, and this has been notified to the school authorities. Officials are in the process of drawing up a detailed accommodation brief for this school. A site visit is required to inform the final brief for the project and officials will be in contact with the school authority to arrange such a visit. On completion of the brief, the project will be considered in the context of the multi-annual school building and modernisation programme.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter and allowing me to outline the progress being made under the school building and modernisation programme and the position of Craughwell national school.