Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 211: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount spent to date under the education infrastructure of the national development plan; the amount estimated to be spent by the end of the NDP; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24622/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The budget for 2007 is the first year of the roll out of the new NDP. This funding will enable my Department to continue to take a proactive approach to the provision of modern school accommodation particularly in developing areas. This year alone around over €540 million will be spent on school building infrastructure with over 1,500 projects on my Department's school building programme. Construction in 2007 alone will deliver over 700 classrooms to provide permanent accommodation for over 17,500 pupils, mainly in developing areas. €428m of this year's budget had been spent by the end of September.

€4.5 billion will be provided under the new National Development Plan (NDP) for investment in school building infrastructure. The main focus of the school building programme is to deliver additional capacity in the rapidly developing areas. It is projected that 100,000 additional school places will be required over the next number of years and these are being delivered. The funding under the NDP 2007-2013 will allow my Department to continue the acceleration of the school building programme which commenced during the lifetime of the last NDP when well over €2.6 billion was invested on school development, delivering over 7,800 projects.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the amount spent to date under the back to education initiative under the national development plan; the amount estimated to be spent by the end of the NDP; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24623/07]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Provision was made in the National Development Plan 2000-2006 through the Employment and Human Resources Development Operational Programme for funding for Lifelong Learning — Back to Education Initiative. The Back to Education Initiative provides new opportunities for learning through the provision of flexible part-time and full-time programmes that consolidate and build on existing further education services. It provides a progression route for school leavers and a re-entry route for those adults who wish to update their skills at levels 1-6 on the National Framework of Qualifications. The Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) and Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) programmes comprise the full time educational options under this initiative. The BTEI is the part time programme available.

Expenditure on the Back to Education Initiative, full and part time, between 2000 and 2006 amounted to €587.1 million. A total of €57.7 million of this expenditure was spent on the part time component of the initiative from 2002, when it commenced, up to the end of December 2006. It is estimated that provision for the full time and part time components of the Back to Education Initiative under the National Development Plan 2007-2013 will be in the region of €1,764.6 million.