Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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159. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the €57,652,000 capital allocation in first, second and early years education (details supplied) within his Department for 2019, by specific project; the projects that will be commenced and completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44535/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The Capital Allocation available in 2019 under Subhead A will be expended as follows:

ICT Schools - €50m

Public Sector Reform - €4.9m

Department's Capital Requirements - €2.252m 

Memorial for Victims of Abuse - €0.5m

Under the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020, €210m has been committed in funding for schools ICT Infrastructure.  In 2019 (for the 2018-2019 school year), €50m will issue in grant funding to all recognised eligible primary and post-primary schools.

The allocation available for Public Sector Reform will be employed for the Education and Training Sectors Shared Services projects. These projects will bring Payroll and Finance Shared Services to the Education and Training Boards (ETB) sector, serving the sixteen ETB’s providing education at primary and secondary school levels and providing further education and training through SOLAS training programmes and community based schemes. The Shared Services projects will also be bringing payroll shared service to the Higher Education sector and upgrading the Department's schools employees payroll services which currently serves over 115,000 payees employed by over 3,700 schools at both primary and secondary level.

The Department's capital requirements include the provision of necessary office equipment and IT services.

A sum of €0.5m is available for the design and installation of a memorial for the victims of abuse.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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160. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the €13,176,000 capital allocation in skills development (details supplied) within his Department for 2019 by specific project; the projects that will be commenced and completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44536/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Further Education and Training (FET) provides learners with key intermediate level skills, enhancing the productivity and adaptability of the Irish workforce.  It is delivered in a range of settings throughout the country, with FET providers firmly embedded in local communities.  A priority for my Department,  is to improve the quality of the settings in which FET is delivered, in order to better respond to the needs of learners and employers.

The National Development Plan includes a €300m capital envelope for FET over the course of 10 year period 2018-2027.  With €65m already agreed for 2018-21, this represents an additional €235m over the remaining period of Plan. 

The total planned allocation for Further Education and Training purposes under the National Development Plan for 2019 to 2022 is outlined in the following table:

The additional capital supports will be prioritised to address issues with the condition of the existing capital stock, to roll out critical new apprenticeship syllabi and courses, and to consolidate the provision of further education and training in modern fit-for-purpose facilities that enable the delivery of high quality integrated programmes.

SOLAS, the state agency responsible for further education and training,  is engaging with individual ETBs to identify the necessary capital requirements for 2019 through the service planning process.  Given the lack of a dedicated capital budget for FET prior to 2018, some investment will be required in the existing capital stock as well as meeting equipment requirements in the apprenticeship area before major new building projects are initiated.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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161. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the €47,770,000 capital allocation in higher education (details supplied) within his Department for 2019 by specific project; the projects that will be commenced and completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44537/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The 2018 funding under this subhead is provided to three organisations; the Irish Research Council (€34.05m), HEAnet (€5.45m) and the Irish Centre for High End Computing (€1.1m). The allocation of the additional €7m to the subhead in 2019 between these organisations is currently being finalised.    

The Irish Research Council's remit is to support and enhance human capital development, in particular at postgraduate and early stage postdoctoral researcher levels, and to encourage independent exploratory research. Its remit covers the full range of disciplines spanning the humanities, social sciences, business, law, sciences, engineering and technology.

HEAnet is Ireland’s National Education and Research Network, providing internet connectivity and associated ICT services to higher education and research organisations throughout Ireland. Its e-Infrastructure services underpin the academic research and education activity for the third level sector.

The Irish Centre for High End Computing is Ireland's national high performance computer centre, providing high-performance computing services, support, education and training for researchers in higher education institutions and enterprise.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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162. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the €822,402,000 capital allocation in capital services (details supplied) within his Department for 2019 by specific project; the projects that will be commenced and completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44538/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The Capital Allocation available in 2019 under Subhead D will be expended as follows:

Schools Sector - €622m

Higher Education - €90m

PPPs - €110m

The Department's Capital Costs - €0.402m

The School Sector allocation will be expended primarily on the delivery of large scale projects and on the Additional Accommodation Scheme. Funding will be available for large scale projects that commenced on site in 2018 or earlier and that will remain under construction in 2019 and for large scale projects that are positioned to commence construction in 2019.

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.

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 Department's capital requirements associated with capital services include the provision of necessary office equipment and IT services.