Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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A grant of €120,000 under the Permanent Accommodation Scheme was sanctioned to enable the management authority of the school in question to provide a permanent classroom.

The Scheme allows Boards of Management to address their accommodation and building priorities with a guaranteed amount of funding and gives Boards of Management control of the building project.

The intention of the scheme is to provide funding to schools to enable them to undertake wanted building projects. The scheme is not intended to leave schools with significant fundraising needs but for the school to tailor the scope of capital works commissioned to the available funding. A central tenet of the scheme is that the schools, granted discretion and funding, must equally accept responsibility for prioritisation, adherence to statutory regulations, control of costs and ensuring value for money. The decision on whether to continue participating in the scheme or to drop out, if the scope of build is more than the funding envelope permits, is a matter for each school authority.

The current position is that tenders have been sought and are due back shortly. I understand that the school intends applying for additional funding. The application will be considered by my Department and a decision conveyed to the school in due course.