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Minister Ruairi Quinn with Donnchadh Clancy, Principal of Ringsend College and Ringsend college students (l-r) Kyle Graham, Nicole Meier, Leah Mahar, Ryan Byrne, Rachel Coughlan and Luke Cummins at the announcement of the scheme today

Education Minister Ruairí Quinn has today announced that 386 schools across every county in Ireland will be able to undertake school improvements this summer.

Almost €36 million is being provided by the Department of Education and Skills under the first round of funding for the Summer Works Scheme 2014.

The successful schools will receive money to improve and upgrade existing school buildings. This first round of funding will allow schools to carry out small and medium scale building works across three categories of projects - Gas, Electrical & Mechanical.

Speaking at one of the schools who will receive funding, Ringsend College in Dublin, Minister Quinn said:

More than 98,000 students in primary and second level schools will benefit as a result of the funding we are making available today under the Summer Works Scheme for 2014.

Today’s announcement is part of this Government's continued commitment to improve facilities in schools throughout the country.

These works will be carried out in schools over the summer months, when the pupils are on holidays, so the disruption to schooling will be kept to a minimum.

In this Year of Jobs, I and the Department are committed to doing everything we can to ensure as many people as possible get back to work. These projects will stimulate economic activity by supporting 2,160 direct and 430 indirect construction jobs in the local economy.

Schools can access further details and instructions on how to proceed on-line using the

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This year, almost €470 million will be invested in school building infrastructure under the school building and modernisation programme.

Read the full press release

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