Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

167. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the policy in which there is no provision or obligation to provide a general purpose hall when providing for renovations in a school, in view of the fact that it is provided for during new school builds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18193/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department’s current priority, within the limited funding available, is the provision of essential classroom accommodation in areas where significant demographic need has been established to ensure that each child will have access to a physical school place. The Deputy will therefore appreciate that all applications for capital funding must be considered in the context of the existing challenging financial circumstances, where funding must of necessity, be prioritised for this purpose and to provide mainstream classroom accommodation where additional teachers are being appointed.

To divert funding which would otherwise be used to provide much needed classroom accommodation for GP rooms would mean insufficient funding being available to provide classroom accommodation for a growing population.