Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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379. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration has been given to the financial burden of applications to the emergency works scheme, as some schools are being charged up to €2000 per report, which are a criteria for application to the scheme, and that some schools in need of extensive works will have to submit several reports at once. [6295/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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It is important to note that the main purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide for unforeseen emergencies that impact on school buildings. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation. Emergency Works Scheme operates on the basis of a minimal scope of works required to remedy an emergency situation, which is defined as 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.

In order to ascertain the extent of an emergency situation within a school, the cause of the issue and the appropriate solution that is required in order to address this issue, it is necessary that a report is prepared by a suitably qualified professional in order to allow the EWS team to allocate funding based on individual need and priority.

All aspects of the costs associated with the design and construction of the works approved under the EWS are provided by the EWS area but the initial report provided by the school is required in order to ensure resources can be allocated effectively and fairly.