Spending on school buildings faces €70m cut

THE Department of Education will spend €70 million less in 2012 than this year on school and college buildings and maintenance, with the emphasis on growing areas, pushing projects at many schools down the priority list.

The allocation for education capital spending in 2010 was €579m but this year’s total budget was cut to just under €500m.

Due to the overall slashing of public capital investment outlined last month, Ruairi Quinn will now have just €430m to spend on buildings and equipment in 2012

About €362m has been set aside for schools, with the focus remaining firmly on providing new schools and extensions in areas of rapid population growth.

Mr Quinn had already announced last month that funding is unlikely to be available for summer works and minor works grant schemes on which thousands of schools depend for vital improvements and repairs.

More than 80,000 of the 100,000-plus school places to be provided under a €2 billion five-year school building plan will be for start-up schools or extensions, with the rest being used to replace unsatisfactory accommodation including prefabs and other temporary arrangements.

Full details of the five-year plan will be published early next year, which the department said will improve the transparency and openness in the system by outlining which projects are to be constructed in that time.

The minister said he will hand over management of some urgent projects from his department to the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA)

“I am committed to using alternative methods of delivering major school building projects in order to maximise the number of projects we deliver and to speed up delivery,” Mr Quinn said.

The focus on developing areas means many schools may have their projects stalled despite obtaining planning permission for their building works this year, with schools expected to be catering for 70,000 pupils more than current enrolments by 2018.

A department spokesperson said all major projects currently at the architectural planning stage of the process will be progressed up to tender stage and decisions about further progress will be taken before they can be sent to tender, taking into account the available funding, the building costs and progression of other major projects required to meet demographic needs.

Staff and the 500 students at Ashton Comprehensive School in Blackrock Road on Cork’s southside were delighted to learn their project will go to construction, having secured planning for a new three-storey building just over a year ago .

“We were always hopeful that work could begin next year but nothing is certain with these lists, as we’ve learned since first applying for the new building in 2000,” said principal Adrian Landen.