Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when planning permission will be submitted for the building of a new national school in Laytown, County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33826/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has already provided a 16-classroom facility to meet the immediate accommodation requirements in Laytown. The new 24-classroom school building will be provided by my Department under a design and build contract. The procurement process for this project is now nearing completion and it is expected that the contract will be awarded very soon. As part of the tender competition, the initial design and layout for the school has already been done and some pre-planning discussions have taken place with Meath County Council in order to help ensure that it meets their requirements.

Following the placing of the design and build contract, the first task for the successful contractor will be to submit the application for planning permission for the new school. Given the preparatory work already done it is expected that the application for planning permission can be done within a matter of weeks following the appointment. I want to assure the Deputy that my Department is committed to providing the new school in Laytown at the earliest possible stage.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 93: To ask the Minister for Education and Science, further to her reply to Parliamentary Question No. 64 of 13 November 2007, the name, location and cost of the 1,500 school projects in receipt of €540 million as part of her Department's school building programme for 2007; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33420/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware from my previous reply that this year's investment in schools infrastructure of over €540 million, the first year of the roll out of the new National Development Plan, will deliver over 1,500 projects in schools throughout the country. This investment will significantly increased capacity and transform the standard of accommodation in many schools. Given the scale of investment and the number of projects involved it would require an inordinate amount of staff time to assemble the requested information. However, if the Deputy wishes to clarify the situation in respect of investment in individual cases then I would be happy to provide her with the information.