One-third of building funds gone, say teachers

ALMOST one-third of the €343 million school building budget announced by Education Minister Noel Dempsey is effectively spent already, according to teachers.

Of the 150 ‘large-scale projects’ Mr Dempsey said will be delivered in 2003, 123 are already under construction or are authorised to begin construction this year.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation said much of the spending is committed to projects already underway.

Of the money available for 2003, he said, over €100m is contractually committed to such projects.

The union, which represents staff at the country’s 3,300 primary schools, said 2.5bn is needed over the next decade to bring buildings up to standard.

INTO general secretary John Carr said: “Thousands of pupils, along with their parents and teachers, will draw little hope from this announcement.

“No child should have to go to school in dilapidated, unsuitable and rundown buildings.

“In this day and age it is unfair, unjust and morally wrong that any child should be subjected to damp and dreary surroundings,” he added.

Mr Carr said the additional 20m for school buildings is welcome but not enough. He said it merely reverses a 4% cut in the primary building programme in November’s Book of Estimates.

Labour Party spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan described the move, which involves taking €20m from the third-level capital programme for this year, as robbing Peter to pay Paul.

But Mr Dempsey’s spokesperson rejected this, saying the funding had not been committed to any projects by the third-level sector, which was consulted beforehand.

Dr Mary Meaney, chairperson of the Council of Directors of the Institutes of Technology, said all investment in education at any level was welcome.

However, she added: “We would be disappointed if third level is suffering to spend the money somewhere else.”

Fine Gael said all schools now know how far down the list they are, but have little or no idea what it means.

“Any projects that are at pre-tender stage are to be ignored at least for a further year depending on future funding allocations,” said education spokesperson Olwyn Enright.

“Being at an advanced stage of architectural planning is of little value now.”