Today the government announced a €100 million investment in 28 major school building projects. As part of the announcement I was informed that St Mary’s National School on Belmont Avenue is to receive funding under this investment project.

The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, today announced a €100 million investment in the school building programme, as part of the Government’s “Investing in Infrastructure & Jobs” Package.

This major investment will fund the replacement or refurbishment of 18 primary schools and 10 post-primary schools providing state-of-the-art classrooms and facilities for over 10,000 students

The 28 schools are in addition to the 275 major school building projects announced in March 2012 under the Five Year Plan. They are all schools where extensive architectural planning is complete and so they can progress quickly to tender and construction before the end of this year.

These projects were not part of the Five Year Plan, they have continued to progress through architectural planning, and we are delighted to announce that additional funding means they can now proceed to tender and construction. We have always been clear that schools which were well advanced through the planning process would be best placed to benefit from any additional funding which becomes available – today underlines that message.

Projects on the Five Year Construction Plan will continue to be progressed within the architectural planning process with a view to being ready to proceed to construction within the timeframes previously announced in the Five Year Construction Plan.

The Department of Public Expenditure Reform are today providing an additional investment of €50 million for the construction of schools. The remaining funds will be found from within the overall capital budget of the Department of Education and Skills (€2.2bn budget between 2012 and 2016).

It is expected that over 1,200 direct and indirect construction jobs will be created through the projects. Local communities will also benefit, as many schools make their grounds and buildings available for a range of community activities.

For full details on the 28 individual projects please click here.