Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she will take to refund the costs to schools of submitting applications under the defunct summer works scheme 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5935/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's circular 0043/2007 regarding the Summer Works Scheme 2008 clearly outlines that the appointment of a consultant to prepare a Technical report must be met in full from a school's own resources. Such a report may be of benefit in the event of future applications for funding.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Summer Works Scheme was introduced in 2004. Since then, over 3,000 projects costing in excess of €300 million have been completed. Considerable extra investment has been provided in the Budget to increase funding for school buildings to almost €600 million this year. With so many small projects having been completed over the past few years, I am focusing on delivering as many large scale projects as possible in 2008. There is not, therefore, a new Summer Works Scheme as part of our building programme this year.