Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who unfortunately cannot be present. I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the current position in regard to Rathcormac national school, Rathcormac, County Cork, roll No. 17609N.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth is a significant challenge. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity etc., leading ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. The original criteria were revised and refined in 2004.

Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band one is the highest and band four the lowest. Band one projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exists, but there is a high demand for pupil places, while a band four project makes provision of desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities, such as a library or new sports hall.

The proposed new school building for Rathcormac national school has been assigned a band 2.2 rating. This is in line with the level of need presenting where there is a deficit of mainstream accommodation and the deficit constitutes a substantial proportion of the school's overall accommodation. The brief for this Rathcormac national school project is to provide a new 12 classroom generic repeat design school building, including a general purpose hall and ancillary accommodation, on a greenfield site. The project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning.

As the Senator will be aware, in February the Minister announced details of 43 major building projects to proceed to tender and construction and 25 high priority projects to commence architectural planning. He will understand that it is not possible to advance all projects at the same time. It was not possible to include the project for Rathcormac national school in this announcement. Therefore, it is unlikely that it will be progressed further in 2009. Given the competing demands on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible at this stage to be precise about when this project will go to construction.

However, the progression of all large-scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction is dependent on the prioritisation of competing demands on the funding available under the Department's capital budget. The proposed building project for Rathcormac national school, Rathcormac, County Cork will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme for 2010 and subsequent years.

The allocation for school buildings in 2009 is almost €614 million. This represents a significant investment in the school building and modernisation programme. This level of funding for the building programme, at a time of great pressure on public finances, is a sign of the very real commitment of this Government to investing in school infrastructure and will permit the continuation of progress in the overall improvement of school accommodation.

I thank the Senator again for giving me the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the current position regarding the school building project for Rathcormac national school, Rathcormac, County Cork.