Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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80. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if financial assistance will be provided to a centre (details supplied) in finding a temporary solution to its parking problems while it awaits a response to its proposal for a new site and building; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23996/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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There are 21 full time and 9 part time Education Centres.  The Education Centre network provides a national infrastructure for the delivery of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers and Centres.  Every centre has a locally elected Management Committee and a Director appointed on secondment. 

My Department is the main funder of Education Centres through direct budget allocations for administrative staff pay and operating costs and local courses. In 2017, the Department provided funding of €436,948 to Limerick Education Centre and a similar level of funding will be provided in 2018.  

Limerick Education Centre is situated in a building owned by Limerick and Clare ETB. The Centre has advised the Department that since September 2017 it has been experiencing car parking difficulties and has submitted a proposal with long term and interim solutions.

I wish to clarify that the 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. You will therefore appreciate that all applications for capital funding must be considered in the context of the existing challenging financial circumstances where funding must be prioritised for this purpose and to provide mainstream classroom accommodation where additional teachers are being appointed.

In this regard, the delivery of new schools together with extension projects to meet future demand will be the main focus of the School Planning and Building Unit’s budget for the coming year.

Officials of my Department will continue to liaise with the Centre to see how best its car parking issue can be resolved.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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81. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of funding allocated to a centre (details supplied) to rent its building from the LCETB; the amount of funding allocated to the LCETB; his plans to net off the rental funding against the LCETB allocation in view of issues in regard to car parking allocations for the centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24009/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department allocates €120,000 per annum to Limerick Education Centre to rent accommodation from Limerick and Clare ETB (LCETB).

Separately, my Department provides funding to LCETB for the pay of certain ETB staff (including teachers), funding for the day-to-day running of schools, specific grants (e.g. book grant, transition year programme), targeted expenditure (e.g. DEIS funding), funding for student grants, funding for capital projects and head office running costs. The general non-pay budget is provided as a block grant and is made up of direct funding from the Department as well as certain receipts retained by the ETB.

ETBs also receive funding from sources other than my Department, for example through self-financing programmes or from other Departments and agencies, most notably for further education and training which is funded by SOLAS.

Details of funding under the various headings are provided in the Annual Financial Statements of the ETB which are laid in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

I understand that in 2016, LCETB erected a barrier in the car park which has reduced the parking spaces available to the Education Centre. It is a matter for LCETB to appropriately manage in line with best practice, all issues regarding upkeep, maintenance and security of any property including car parks under its remit. In those circumstances it would not be appropriate for me to net off the rental funding to Limerick Education Centre against the general funding allocated to LCETB.