Boyle welcomes additional £10m for schools’ maintenance Wednesday 28 August 2013 West Tyrone Sinn Féin MLA and Assembly Education Committee member Michaela Boyle has welcomed today’s announcement by Education Minister John O’Dowd that an additional £10million is to be allocated for schools’ maintenance. She said, “The additional funding announced today brings the total allocation for schools’ maintenance announced by the Minister so far this financial year to a total of £47 million. “In spite of challenging budgetary constraints, this additional funding highlights the Ministers ongoing commitment to improving the schools’ estate which is of the key drivers in raising educational standards across the board. “In addition to maintenance work the Department of Education also provides funding for work deemed as minor works, ie, capital projects under £500,000. In the period January to June 2013, the Department awarded contracts to the value of £4.4million to address issues ranging from minor repairs to more significant refurbishment projects and extensions. Maintenance work and indeed work under the Minor Works Scheme is usually carried out by local small and medium-sized enterprises. This additional funding will help sustain local jobs and will provide a much needed boost to the local construction sector.” Since June last year, the Minister has also announced that 40 major capital building schemes can proceed which represents a potential investment of £353million. As these capital building schemes are taking forward the benefits for the local construction industry will increase further. ENDS
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 12:06:38 +0000