Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 491: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the date on which a decision to acquire a site for a school (details supplied) was made; the action which has been taken since that decision was made; the reduction in the capital allocation for 2008 and 2009 which has been imposed since that decision was made; and the criteria against which it was decided that this project no longer had sufficient priority to be included. [43848/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department requested the Office of Public Works to identify a suitable site for the school in question in September 2007.

The Deputy will appreciate that the acquisition of a site has to be considered in the context of the capital budget available to my Department for school buildings generally. In light of current competing demands on the capital budget of my Department it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the acquisition of the school site at this time.

In relation to the prioritisation of projects the Deputy may be aware projects are selected for inclusion in the School Building and Modernisation Programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project which indicates the urgency, type and extent of work required at a school.

The Band Rating system involves all applications for capital funding being assessed in the Planning and Building Unit of my Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity etc. leading ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the Education Partners. This project has a Band Rating of 2.2.