Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2012
233. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he has ensured that all schools being constructed under public private partnership proposals will have inbuilt wifi and CCTV as part of their development. [56655/12]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that all schools being constructed under my Department's Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme are provided with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure in compliance with my Department's prevailing ICT guidelines. While it is not currently my Department's policy to supply wi-fi network to schools, they are however provided with broadband connectivity. In fact, my Department is in the process of rolling out a high-speed 100Mbit/s broadband connection to all post primary schools nationwide.
In relation to the provision of CCTV to schools, the general security of school communities is one of the issues considered in the architectural design of new school buildings and major extensions including schools being developed under PPP programmes. In this regard, PPP schools are provided with targeted external CCTV for security purposes. In general it is open to schools to fund and manage the installation of CCTV having regard to the Data Protection Acts which requires, inter alia, that its use is proportionate and for specific purposes.
