Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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500. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the minor capital works grant has been withdrawn for this school year; if this is a temporary measure; if there is emergency funding available for schools who haven't the means to compensate for the loss of this grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38114/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Circular Letter 0062/2013 which was published as the Minor Works Grant for the school year 2013/2014 issued last November states "the grant will only be paid in future years as funding permits". The focus under the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 is on meeting the demand for additional school places. Consequently, there is no funding provided at this time in the 2014 capital allocation for the payment of a Minor Works Grant. Further, I cannot yet give any commitment to restore the Minor Works Grant on an annual basis.

Funds transferred to schools under the Minor Works Grant must be spent on the physical infrastructure of the school or on items of furniture and equipment for educational use including IT related equipment. As the Minor Works Grant may not be used for items of a non-capital nature, it has no role to play in the day-to-day running costs of a primary school such as the payment of electricity and telephone accounts, the purchase of fuel and other current expenses.

My Department has an Emergency Works Scheme whose purpose is to ensure the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are most in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation or on receipt of an enrolment application from a special needs pupil. An emergency is a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action and in the case of a school, if not corrected, would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.