Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 555: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the urgent need to sanction an extension to a school (details supplied); the steps she will take to issue the appropriate approval; if she will ensure that there are no further delays in dealing with the matter. [5082/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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An application for capital funding towards the provision of an extension at the school has been received from the school referred to by the Deputy. The project is being considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme 2006-2010.

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 556: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason her Department continues to take such an entrenched view in relation to providing the necessary additional funding for a school (details supplied); if this matter will be reviewed with a view towards giving the board of management the additional moneys to allow the school to be finished; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5083/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As part of the expansion of the devolved scheme for primary school building works, a grant of €350,000 was sanctioned to enable the management authorities of the school in question to provide additional accommodation. 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 initiative is not structured on the basis that the Department funding must be supplemented by local fundraising. It does, 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 the devolved initiative 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. An appeal for additional funding by the school in question was considered by the appeals board and it is satisfied that under the terms of the scheme, the school does not warrant additional funding. The board of management has been informed of the position.