Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 176: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the proposal to devolve an annual capital budget to schools to enable such schools to plan for capital projects by themselves in a similar manner to that of the devolved scheme method, which was pioneered by a school in Claregalway, County Galway. [11387/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

This Government's Programme for National Recovery 2011-2016 commits that administrative functions relating to maintenance and school building projects currently carried out by school principals will be devolved locally and that the devolution of an annual capital budget to schools will be piloted to allow schools to plan for capital projects. In order to expedite the process of delivering projects and to maximise the output from within existing resources, my Department has been exploring alternative methods of delivering major projects. As well as the Public Private Partnership method of delivery, my Department has also initiated a process whereby a local authority and a number of VECs have been given responsibility for managing the delivery of major projects. This process has the potential to offer the Department of Education and Skills another mechanism within which school buildings could be delivered in the future.

In addition to the major capital projects funded by my Department, there are grant schemes in which responsibility for project managing and overseeing the delivery of these projects within budget is devolved to the school authority. Schemes such as the Summer Works Scheme, the Permanent Accommodation Scheme and the Emergency Works Scheme operate on this basis. The further implementation of the commitments in the Programme for National Recovery 2011-2016 will be informed by progress in the new devolution arrangements underway.