Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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227. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the specific projects which will receive the €196 million in extra capital expenditure in 2019 as outlined in Annex 1 of the National Development Plan 2018-2027; the amount each project will receive of this €196 million in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31273/18]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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228. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the specific projects which will receive the €941 million in capital funding allocated in 2019; the amount each project will receive of the €941 million in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31288/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 227 and 228 together.

The Mid-Term Review of the Capital Plan 2016-2021 identified an additional €663m for the education sector of which €191m is in respect of 2019. This additional capital funding for 2019 will be expended on the following sectors:

Schools Sector - €109m

Higher Education Sector - €65m

Further Education Sector - €10m

Research - €7m

This additional funding forms part of the overall capital allocation of €941m for the education sector in 2019, which will enable my Department to implement commitments contained in Project Ireland 2040. The attachment provides the indicative allocation available for each sector.

CAPITAL ALLOCATION 2019

The School Sector allocation will be expended primarily on the delivery of large scale projects and on the Additional Accommodation Scheme. Typically, expenditure of up to 80% of the capital allocation available to schools annually is in respect of the large scale projects and the Additional Accommodation Scheme. The balance available in 2019 will be expended on site acquisitions, the Summer Works Scheme, the Emergency Works Scheme, furniture and equipment provision and other smaller programmes.

The allocation available to the Higher Education Sector for 2019 is significantly higher than in recent years and will allow a number of priority infrastructure projects to progress, including, for example, a new Engineering, Energy and Environment Institute in TCD. Furthermore, in the Higher Education Sector the allocation available for research is over 17% higher than in 2018 and this will facilitate a greater number of research awards to be funded.

The allocation available for the PPP subhead will be expended primarily on unitary charges associated with the Schools Bundles delivered to date and on the Cork School of Music and the National Maritime College of Ireland.

The funding available for ICT in Schools is intended to support schools in implementing a Digital Learning Plan, as outlined in the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020, to achieve the embedding of the use of digital technologies in teaching, learning and assessment.

The funding available for the Further Education and Training Sector will secure the upgrade and renewal of facilities and equipment required for a broadly based apprenticeship system.

Other programmes to be funded in 2019 include Public Sector Reform and the Department's IT requirements.