Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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102. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the costs associated with undertaking a national audit of secondary schools in respect of the equipment, infrastructure and facilities available to cook, prepare and serve meals to students in addition to the facilities in which they can eat; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20565/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department has in place detailed design guidelines for primary and post-primary schools. These guidelines, which are available on my Departments web-site, currently provide for a standard range of servery and eating facilities in the design of new Post Primary schools. At Post Primary level a kitchenette, 25m² in area, is provided off the General Purpose/Dining Area. These facilities are not intended to be full commercial type canteens where food is prepared or cooked.

The Deputy will also appreciate that due to the competing demands on my Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise available funding towards the provision of essential classroom accommodation, it is not possible to prioritise the provision of kitchen facilities. My Department has no plans to undertake a national survey along the lines referred to by the Deputy.