Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 277: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if funding is available to primary schools to enable them to hire facilities in local community sports halls and thereby have a comprehensive physical education programme for students. [14596/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not have a dedicated fund for the hire of community facilities for physical education purposes. However, many primary schools have a general purpose room for play and physical education activities. In addition, nearly all schools have play areas which are utilised for teaching different aspects of the physical education programme. A similar situation with sports halls and outdoor facilities applies at second level. In addition, many schools have the use of adjacent local facilities, including public parks, playing fields and swimming pools.

The provision of a multi-purpose space for primary schools will continue to be considered within the design brief for new schools and-or renovation and extension school building projects. This will also be the case for physical education facilities at second level. This will be done with available resources and the published criteria for prioritising school building projects.

The school planning section of my Department is also working with some local authorities to explore the possibility of the development of school provision in tandem with the development of community facilities. This enhanced co-operation has the effect of minimising my Department's land requirements, reducing site costs, and providing local communities with new schools with enhanced facilities.

My Department has never underestimated the scale of the task and the level of capital funding and other resources required to rectify decades of under-investment in school infrastructure. In 2005, €270 million will be allocated to primary schools and €223 million to post-primary schools for building and modernisation works, representing an increase of 14% on last year and six times greater than the amount allocated in 1997.