Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 1221: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to any potential breach of health and safety regulations due to overcrowding at various schools throughout County Kildare at either primary or second level; her plans to address these issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25491/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989, it is the responsibility of school management authorities to have a safety statement in place in their schools. Schools are obliged to identify possible hazards, assess the risks to health and safety and to put appropriate safeguards in place.

Provision is built into the school building programme to enable schools address urgent health and safety problems. Primary schools are given an annual allocation, currently amounting to €3,809 plus €12.70 per pupil, under the grant scheme for minor works which can be used entirely at the discretion of school management to address basic health and safety issues relating to school infrastructure.

In addition, the summer works scheme was introduced during 2004 which provided capital grants for improvement works at primary and post-primary schools. A total of 457 schools were approved for funding under this scheme in 2004. Over 740 schools have been approved for funding under the scheme for 2005.

My Department also sets aside a contingency sum each year to deal with emergency works in primary and post-primary schools, including health and safety works.

The Deputy will be aware that where any school has a need for additional accommodation it may apply to the school planning section of my Department under the process for large scale capital works or under the additional accommodation scheme.

Both the additional accommodation scheme and the summer works scheme for 2006 were recently advertised and the closing date for each is 14 October 2005.