Mary Wallace (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Fitzgerald for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and, in particular, the current position in respect of the purchase of a new site for Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada in Lucan, County Dublin. The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, has asked me to clarify that the modernisation of facilities in our existing building stock is a significant challenge. Similarly, we need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. The Minister intends to prioritise such challenges during his term in office.

The Government has dramatically increased investment in the schools building programme to almost €600 million this year. Almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools during the lifetime of the national development plan. This unprecedented level of capital investment reflects the Government's commitment to continuing its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools. The Government is emphasising the delivery of additional school places in rapidly developing areas while furthering its commitment to improving the quality of existing primary and post-primary accommodation throughout the country. Its investment will enable the purchase of sites to facilitate the smooth delivery of the school building programme, with a focus on site requirements in rapidly developing areas.

Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada is operating in temporary accommodation on a site that is owned by County Dublin VEC. The Department of Education and Science is consulting the VEC on the possibility of using the site, together with additional VEC lands, to meet the school's long-term accommodation needs. A study that was conducted to determine the feasibility of this proposal is being considered in the Department. The acquisition of the site will be considered in the context of the capital budget that is available to the Department for school buildings. As there are many competing demands on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible at this time to give an indicative timeframe for the acquisition of the school site.

Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. The band rating that is assigned to a project indicates the urgency, type and extent of work required at a school. Under the band rating system, all applications for capital funding are assessed in the Department's planning and building unit. The assessment process determines the extent and type of each school's need, based on such matters as the demographics of the area, proposed housing developments in the area, the condition of existing school buildings and the capacity of the proposed site. The process ultimately leads to a decision on an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, each project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. The criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. This project has a band rating of 1.1. I thank Senator Fitzgerald for giving me an opportunity to outline to the House the current position in respect of the purchase of a new site for Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada in Lucan, County Dublin.