Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 545: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the guidelines or advice that is provided by her to architects for the average cost per square metre of new school buildings; and if the financial allocation for school building programmes is sufficient to provide for sustainable and resilient buildings. [30450/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department uses, as a basic yardstick to assist architects in assessing the value for money of designs for building projects, a basic building cost, BBC, per square metre. The current BBC for primary schools is €1,170 per square metre. The Deputy should be aware that ultimately it is the market that determines the actual tender price for all projects and such prices fluctuate depending on the tightness or otherwise of the construction industry.

My Department monitors the cost limits for all school building projects on an on-going basis, taking into account factors such as current conditions in the construction industry, published cost indices for labour and materials and movements in tender levels. Account is also taken of historical data on tender prices and changes arising from adjustments to school planning guidelines. In addition, the standard guidelines relating to public procurement are followed and the competitive element involved in the tendering process also ensures value for money.

The current focus within my Department is to empower schools to resolve their accommodation needs, wherever possible, in a permanent manner rather than relying on temporary accommodation. To reduce the amount of temporary accommodation at primary level a new initiative was launched in 2003. The purpose of this initiative is to allow primary schools to undertake a permanent solution to their classroom accommodation needs and to achieve the best value for money. The feedback from the 20 schools in this pilot of the initiative was very positive and the initiative was expanded to include 44 additional primary schools in 2004. More than 70 schools have been invited to participate in this initiative in 2005.