The Education Minister has said that the allocation of £710k to a school in Londonderry followed proper process.
Last week the Belfast Telegraph revealed that the grant was awarded to Lisneal College for a football pitch, following a private meeting with DUP ministers.
Over the weekend the Education Authority said the decision was not “influenced by any recent discussions” and was not a response to a funding application.
Speaking on Good Morning Ulster on Monday Mr Givan said: “It was a minor works scheme of which £29m was provided to the EA and there were hundreds of schemes funded through the normal processes that the Education Authority followed.
“That decision to fund this particular scheme started back from 2019, then it was involved in a business case in 2022 and then there was planning approval granted in 2023.
“All predating my time as Education Minister and then there was funding that was provided to put in place this facility, all through the normal processes. So I think, we need to get the facts right when people want to produce stories.”
Givan also said he and the school in question had been ‘unfairly’ represented in recent media coverage.
“Lisneal College is a superb school supporting one thousand children in the north west and they have been dragged into this particular issue unfairly,” he said.
“I think many people owe this school a particular apology because of the way this story has been framed, set aside the way I have unfairly been brought into it as well.
“I am concerned about a school, who my colleague Gary Middleton has engaged with over the weekend, that is deeply upset by the way this particular story has been carried,” he said.
On Friday the EA said that in any year, many minor capital projects are taken forward across the education estate to address issues for the benefit of children and young people.
“In this context, on an annual basis, the Department of Education issues the Education Authority with an annual other/minor capital allocation,” it explained.
“In 2024/25 EA received a budget of £29m to progress the delivery of many hundreds of such projects. In terms of scale, projects range in value from tens of thousands of pounds to many hundreds of thousands of pounds. The value of the work at Lisneal College is typical of a project of this nature.
It added that a health and safety inspection at Lisneal in December 2019 identified that the football pitch needed replaced and was deemed a priority project due to risk of serious injury. The pitch has been out of operation since that time.
“A feasibility report was then conducted in May 2022 and a Business Case submitted in June 2022. Planning permission approval was received in November 2023 and a construction tender was awarded in December 2024. This is the normal timeline for such projects,” it added.