Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if all grant commitments made to various second level schools here towards the encouragement of sciences in the junior and senior syllabus have been met to date; if not, the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19501/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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A revised syllabus in Junior Certificate Science was implemented on a phased basis starting in September 2003, supported by an investment of some €16m in resources and facilities for schools. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is currently engaging in a consultation process with schools relating to the revision of science subjects at senior cycle, but revised syllabuses in these areas have not as yet been submitted to my Department.

As part of the multi-annual school building programme, the Government has invested heavily in the modernisation of school facilities throughout the country including science facilities in post-primary schools. Provision of science facilities is an intrinsic part of all major projects at post-primary level. Typically this investment involves the provision of modern science facilities in new post-primary schools or the upgrading of science facilities in existing schools either as part of a school building project or as a dedicated investment to facilitate the teaching of science.

Schools have also received funding under the Summer Works Schemes 2004 -2007 to refurbish science laboratories. Over 60 schools were approved for funding in 2006 and 2007 under my Department's Summer Works Scheme to enable them to refurbish science laboratories on a devolved basis.

Expenditure on science laboratories and science equipment in schools will continue to arise for consideration in the context of the funding available for my Department's multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme.

In the budget of October 2008 it was announced that a number of separate grant payments to second-level schools would be abolished from 2009, including the grant for Physics and Chemistry. All commitments in this area for 2008 have been met. The capitation grant to schools for 2009 has been increased.

The Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation 2006 to 2013 recommended that the provision of laboratory assistance for schools for science, which had been costed in the 2002 Report of the Task Force on Physical Sciences at €18.8m per annum, should be revisited. Provision of assistants in this area would undoubtedly lead to demands for similar assistance across other areas of the curriculum where there is a strong practical component, and resources for this are not available at present. The availability of laboratory technicians has not been a universal feature of support for science teaching in second-level schools and, in some countries that do provide this type of resource, it is confined to certain types of schools.