Joanna Tuffy (Labour)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter and the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, for coming to the House. The issue is self-explanatory. I request a list of all the schools in my constituency of Dublin Mid-West that have requested building works or building repairs and an indication of which of these requests have been approved. I also ask the Minister of State to outline which of the approved works have been commenced and completed.

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Tuffy for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the overall strategy of the Department of Education and Science to address the accommodation needs of first and second level schools. The Department has arranged for details regarding individual schools in the areas referred to by the Senator to be forwarded directly by officials.

From the outset, the Government has been committed to addressing the historical deficit in educational infrastructure and has set about rectifying the situation by allocating substantial funding in each of its budgets. Only €92 million was allocated for investment in school buildings in 1997. In stark contrast, between 1998 and 2004, almost €2 billion will have been invested in primary and post-primary educational infrastructure. This investment incorporates 7,500 individual building projects, site purchases, dust, asbestos and radon remediation programmes, science initiatives, contingency projects and furniture and equipment provision.

At primary level, this unprecedented level of investment has delivered 84 new school buildings, more than 350 large-scale refurbishment or extension projects, in excess of 6,000 smaller-scale projects and thousands of other small-scale works under the annual minor works grant. At post-primary level, 46 new school buildings, more than 160 large-scale refurbishments or extensions and in excess of 850 smaller-scale projects have been delivered.

In particular, the 2004 building programme is the most ambitious ever in the history of the State, involving many hundreds of individual projects ranging from new school buildings, extensions, refurbishments and other projects under the summer works scheme, temporary accommodation and permanent accommodation initiatives, remediation programmes, the contingency fund and site purchases.

Within the 2004 programme, the Department introduced a new initiative, called the summer works scheme, for capital grants for small-scale improvements for both primary and post-primary schools. This new initiative is in addition to the existing devolved grant scheme for minor works which applies to all primary schools. The €31 million provided for the new scheme is targeted at small-scale improvement works in those schools most in need of resources. The scheme reflects the overall approach of empowering school authorities to manage their own building programmes with minimal interaction with the Department. In excess of 450 schools benefited from the scheme in 2004 and a similar scheme will operate in 2005.

Departmental officials are conducting a review of all large-scale projects which did not proceed to construction as part of the 2004 schools building programme. Under this review, all projects are assessed against the published prioritisation criteria, which were revised earlier this year following consultation with the education partners. Each project will be assigned a band rating and the progress of all projects will be considered in the context of the schools building programme from 2005 onwards.

Department officials will be in touch with Senator Tuffy in the near future to provide the data she has sought.

Joanna Tuffy (Labour)
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Can the Minister of State offer a timeframe for when this information will be available from departmental officials?

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I understand officials will be in touch with the Senator within a few days. If she has any difficulty, she should address the matter to me and I will ensure she receives this information.