Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the list of all schools, on a county basis, that have applied to her Department for extensions to their existing facilities. [16860/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will appreciate that the number of applications for building projects under consideration can change on a day to day basis as new applications are received and existing applications are progressed within my Department. These projects are assessed and prioritised in accordance with the prioritisation criteria agreed with the Education Partners. A project's banding, or classification, can be subject to reassessment having regard to demographic developments in the area served by the school and also, for example, if on foot of a technical examination of the school it was found that the proposed project put forward by the school was not an appropriate design solution to meet the accommodation requirements.

My Department would have in the region of 1,300 applications for building works on the main building programme. Applications range from small scale projects in existing schools to new schools. A number of schools may have applications for more than one project.

The progression of all large scale building projects from initial design stage through to construction phase is considered on an on-going basis in the context of my Department's Multi-Annual School Building and Modernisation Programme in which the main focus at present is to deliver school places within rapidly developing areas.

For the past number of years, it has been my Department's practice to announce large scale building projects in phased groups. Details of these announcements are available on my Department's website at www.education.ie

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress on the construction of a new school (details supplied) in County Donegal. [16861/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Office of Public Works (OPW) who acts on behalf of my Department generally in the acquisition of sites for schools has been asked to source a suitable site for the school in question. A suitable site has been identified and the acquisition of same is at an advanced stage. The purchase of the site and the proposed building project for this school will be considered in the context of my Department's multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme.