John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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212. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will report on his Department’s engagement with property owners and school authorities to facilitate increased use of school buildings in cases in which this is feasible for afterschool care and out-of-hours use to support local communities. [52963/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that following consultation with relevant school authorities, Guidelines on the use of School Buildings outside of School Hours were published by my Department in October 2017. These guidelines can be viewed on my Department's website at this link:

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide guidance for schools in relation to the use of school buildings outside of school hours and for those schools who are considering putting such arrangements in place.

In general, the management of school premises at local level is a matter for the relevant school authorities, and if a community group is interested in using school facilities contact should be made with the school in the first instance.