David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 549: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the schools that were successful in their applications for funding under the devolved grant initiative in 2005; the amount each school received; the cost of the respective projects being undertaken by each school; the amount to be made up in each case by way of local contribution or parental subscription or otherwise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5021/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Devolving funding to school management authorities allows them to have control of their projects, assists in moving projects more quickly to tender and construction and can also deliver better value for money. The two devolved initiatives, the small schools initiative and the permanent accommodation initiative, were originally introduced on a pilot basis. Due to the positive feedback from schools, they were extended to cover more schools in the last two years.

The initiatives are not structured on the basis that the Department funding must be supplemented by local fundraising. They do, however, allow a school to supplement the funding from local resources if they so wish. The critical element is that with devolved authority the school must set the scope of works to match the funding allocated. The Department does not define the precise works to be carried out. A school can make choices within the budget allocated.

Setting the scope of works is the critical first step. Clearly, where a school has a known level of resources, apart from the Department funding, or knows its capacity to raise additional resources, it is open to that school to extend the scope of works to include additional facilities. However if the scope of works is not set appropriately from the outset based on the budget available, there is a risk that the school will be faced with a funding gap when the project is at construction.

The choices to be made within these devolved initiatives rest with the school and that is the cornerstone of any policy of devolution. The school authority knows the budget and must decide what it is capable of building with that budget. The time to identify a problem is at the outset before entering any contract. Schools can raise with my Department any site specific problems or unusual planning stipulations that impose additional costs and these will be examined. Otherwise schools must reduce the scope of intended works so as to remain within budget.

A school does not have to accept the invitation to participate in a devolved initiative and instead be considered for inclusion in the mainstream school building programme in line with the project's priority band rating. The feedback has in general been very positive, the number of schools participating has increased year on year and many schools are anxious to be included. In 2005 alone, 155 schools accepted invitations to participate in the two devolved schemes. I intend to maintain this momentum and I am planning to invite more schools to participate in these initiatives in 2006. I expect to make an announcement in that regard shortly. The specific information sought by the Deputy is being assembled and will be forwarded as soon as possible.