Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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670.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the financial and other supports that have been made available to a school (details supplied) in each of the past four years in view of the condition of some of the classrooms and facilities within the school; and the supports that will be made available for urgent repairs and improvements in line with health and safety standards. [31799/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Pertaining to financial and other supports that have been made available to the school in question, no applications have been made for Emergency Works or Summer Works in the last four years.

However, funding is available for unforeseen emergencies that impact on school buildings that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS).

An emergency is a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action and, in the case of a school, if not corrected would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.

If the school in question is not affected to the extent that it would fall under the remit of an emergency as outlined above, the school also has the option to apply for funding under the Summer Works Scheme (SWS).

The purpose of the Summer Works Scheme is to devolve funding to individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works which, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school.

Works that are not eligible for funding under the Summer Works Scheme are works such as painting or replacement of floor coverings etc. as this is work that should be addressed by routine maintenance using the school’s capitation grant.

As part of it’s planning for 2024 and beyond, Department officials are considering and planning for the next phases of the summer works programme and the opportunities this may create to support the sustainability agenda. In this regard, it is envisaged at this stage that, a Multi-Annual SWS with a focus on climate action and energy conservation will be the focus for the next summer works scheme to be opened for applications. The arrangements and timing of that SWS is still under consideration and schools will be updated in due course.