Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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616. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the ongoing challenges regarding a school (details supplied) accessing a sports capital grant and correspondence sent to her Department from the Archdiocese querying financial costs incurred by primary schools when undertaking a sports capital grant; if Department’s officials have responded to this matter; and if the Minster can provide clarity to both parties. [11208/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to confirm my Department are not in receipt of a sports capital grant for the school referred to by the Deputy. My Department would appraise the application once received and engage with the school authorities in this regard.

My Department supports and encourages the use of school buildings for community and recreational purposes, where feasible, including childcare and after school uses.

My Department has recently published the procedures on the use of school property and school sports facilities outside of school hours. These procedures are available for each school to refer to for guidance in relation to the use of school buildings outside of school hours, including any planned after school and creche arrangements.

However, the decision on the use of school property is a matter for the property owner taking into consideration the current and future requirements of the school, the students and the staff. Additionally, it is important that any proposed arrangement does not impede upon the future development of the school, given that the priority for schools is educational provision for its pupils.

The use of school property and sports facilities by the local community can support the social fabric of community life and help to serve the need for new community facilities in areas where there has been a strong rollout of residential developments.

As part of the follow on from the launch of the new procedures, schools provided data to my Department in relation to usage of facilities outside of school hours. The initial assessment of this data is that it indicates a strong level of usage. This data will be further analysed and verified before being published in due course.