Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)
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Question 327: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Kells Town Council has made additional lands available for educational development adjacent to the current schools in Kells, County Meath; if consideration has been given to the proposed new school buildings for a school (details supplied) to be provided at this new site in order to keep the current secondary schools adjacent to one another; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4257/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The building project for the school to which the Deputy refers is one of 23 new post-primary schools being built under the Department's Public Private Partnership Programme.

The site for the project is being acquired by the Department under the terms of the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002. In this regard, the Department has accepted, in principle, a site in Kells which was offered under the terms of the property aspect of the Indemnity Agreement between the State and 18 Religious Congregations.

Documentation in relation to the transfer of ownership is currently with the Chief State Solicitor's Office. In the event that the Department is ultimately unable to acquire the site in question, it will look at other options.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 328: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the completed projects within Kildare that were proposed under the last National Development Plan by her Department; the number under construction; the number that have rolled over to the new NDP; the other new proposals that are planned for Kildare under the new NDP; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4289/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The National Development Plan 2000-2006 identified the need for major investment in educational infrastructure in new and refurbished buildings, new equipment and information technology to make education more relevant to the needs of a modern economy. The plan did not identify individual building projects to be addressed either on a local or county basis. It was a matter for my Department to prioritise projects objectively and ensure that funding was appropriately allocated in line with priority assessments. If the Deputy has specific projects in mind my Department can provide the relevant information.

As the Deputy will be aware, the local area development plan for the N4/M4 corridor, is the framework document for the Department's long-term educational strategy at both primary and post-primary level for the area concerned, including part of Kildare. The recommendations in the plan are being actioned in the context of the School Building and Modernisation Programme subject to the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects.

In general, my Department accelerated the school building programme with record levels of investment and the streamlining of delivery systems during the period of the last NDP. The Government is delivering on its commitment to provide modern facilities in schools and has progressively increased funding in recent years with an aggregate total of well over €2.6 billion invested in the period from 2000 to 2006 in upgrading existing school infrastructure and providing new school accommodation at both first and second-level.

This is the largest investment programme in the history of the State. It has delivered over 7,800 projects including 1300 in 2006 alone. In addition the investment covered site purchases; the annual minor works grant to all primary schools, dust/asbestos and radon remediation programmes, science and technology initiatives, contingency works and grants for the purchase of furniture and equipment including improving equipment needed for new technologies and ICT.

To put it in context in terms of pupil numbers, if we take new primary schools recently completed, under construction or approved to progress to construction, we are delivering over 15,000 new permanent pupil places, almost 70% of these in the Leinster area. This figure relates to new schools only and does not include an additional 8,750 school places being delivered under the permanent accommodation scheme.

Innovations in the delivery of school buildings such as Generic Repeat Designs and the use of the Design and Build model ensure that new school buildings are delivered in the fastest time-frame possible. In recent years, my Department has also adopted a policy of devolving much greater authority to local school management boards to manage and deliver smaller building projects, thereby freeing my Department to concentrate on the larger scale projects.

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. However, the Government is delivering on its commitment to provide modern facilities in schools and will provide a further €4.8 billion for educational infrastructure over the period of the new National Development Plan 2007-2013.