Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there will be a follow up grant to replace ICT equipment during this school year. [39953/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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My Department distributed more than €90m in ICT Infrastructure grants to schools in 2009 and 2010. These schemes prioritised the equipping of all classrooms with a digital projector, teaching computer and wireless keyboard and mouse. These ICT Infrastructure grant schemes are now fully disbursed. There are no plans to introduce a new ICT Infrastructure Grant Scheme in 2012 in view of budgetary pressures. I can assure you that the Department is continuing to prioritise work on the other aspects of the ICT in Schools Programme in order to help schools to make the best possible use of the very substantial infrastructural investment already made.

Integrating ICT into teaching and learning in schools is a major priority for this Government and work will commence shortly on development of a new ICT Strategy. The first step in this process is the completion of a new ICT infrastructure census in schools. Drafting of the census is currently taking place. The new ICT Strategy will address the new policy challenges and opportunities arising from major developments in curricular reform, digital publishing, digital content dissemination tools generally, cloud services, portable computing and student devices, and the deployment of high speed broadband at post-primary level.