Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 691: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the extra costs which have arisen with a project at a school (details supplied) in County Dublin which cannot be avoided and could not have been predicted; and if he will approve the provision of additional money to the amount approved to date or enter into an arrangement with the school in order that it can raise a loan on the basis of a phased contribution by his Department to meet the extra cost over a period of years. [28815/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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As part of the expansion of the Small Schools Scheme 2006, a grant of €484,000 was sanctioned for the school in question to enable the Board of Management to extend and refurbish their school.

The scheme is not intended to leave schools with significant fund-raising needs. Rather the terms of the Scheme require the schools to tailor the scope of capital works commissioned to the available funding. 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. A central tenet of the devolved scheme is that the school, granted discretion and funding, must equally accept responsibility for prioritisation, adherence to statutory regulations, as well as control of costs and ensuring value for money.

The school authorities submitted an appeal for significant additional funding which was considered in my Department. However, in line with the original intention of the Small Schools Scheme, it was considered that the school should be encouraged to complete the project within the funding envelope provided and, accordingly, the application for additional grant aid was not approved.

In the current economic climate and with considerable demands on the capital budget of my Department, it is not possible to approve such significant increases in the amounts grant aided to schools. It is the responsibility of the school authorities to manage the resources allocated to them to ensure maximum value for money and to control costs.