Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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265. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the policy of cancelling summer works application for schools where an emergency works application was granted for a totally different project was introduced; the number of schools which have been affected by this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26846/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Both the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) and the Emergency Work Scheme (EWS) were introduced by my Department in 2004.

Since the introduction of the SWS, it has always been the policy of my Department and a condition of the Scheme that schools must apply for the most urgently needed works. If a school does not apply for its most urgently needed works and subsequently applies for these works under the EWS is not possible to provide funding under both schemes as the EWS is not meant to supplement the SWS or vice versa.

In the interest of spreading finite funding to as many schools as possible and where the situation in question arises only one application will be considered except where a real emergency situation arises which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action and that the school authority was not aware of when submitting its SWS application.

Under the current SWS, 25 schools have had their applications substituted by EWS applications as these schools did not apply for their most urgently needed works.