Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Minister for Education and Science I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity of outlining to the House the Department's position regarding the proposed provision of additional accommodation and refurbishment works for Howth Road mixed national school.

Under the lifetime of the national development plan almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools. This investment will facilitate the provision of new schools and extensions in developing areas and the improvement of existing schools through the provision of replacement schools, extensions or large scale refurbishments.

The Howth Road national school has an enrolment of 94 pupils and is staffed by a principal, three mainstream teachers and a special education teacher. The proposed project will consist of the construction of an additional classroom and ancillary accommodation and the conversion of two existing classrooms into one.

The Department has recently approved the stage 3 submission for this project. The Senator will appreciate the progression of all large scale building projects, from initial design stage through to construction phase, is considered on an on-going basis. I will, however, as the Senator requested, pass on the additional information to the Minister and ask her to ensure that the building section takes it into account.

The Minister will announce further school building projects to progress as part of her Department's school building programme. The Minister and her Department are committed to providing suitable high quality accommodation for Howth Road mixed national school at the earliest possible date.