Fianna Fáil has hit out at the government for leaving school principals and boards of management "in the dark" over the availability of funding for the Minor Works Grant Scheme.

The scheme provides funding to upgrade and improve school buildings and for essential maintenance work to be carried out.

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Education Thomas Byrne TD welcomed €28.5million fund allocated to the scheme by the government, however he said it has proved difficult for management in schools to adequately plan repair and upgrade works due to a lack of information coming from Government.

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Deputy Byrne said: "I believe the scheme should be placed on a guaranteed footing linked in an automatic way to the annual capital depreciation costs that each school incurs. This will allow for proper planning to take place and will avoid the current situation where many schools have been forced to run up huge debts in years where they fail to secure a grant. It’s unacceptable that many schools are essentially being punished for carrying out essential works such as roof and toilet repairs after they fail to secure funding under the grant scheme.

"It makes perfect sense to place capital funding for minor works on a multi-annual basis. This will ensure funding predictability and gives school the confidence to undertake remedial works as required rather than waiting until a crisis emerges."

(CD/MH)