Mr. John Irwin:

The Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools, ACCS, is the management body representing 96 post-primary community and comprehensive schools nationally. It is from this that we draw our experience in speaking to the committee. The ACCS's vision is to lead and support boards of management to enable schools to provide equal access to a comprehensive, co-educational, community-based, multidenominational education. In doing so, the ACCS aims to contribute towards a just and caring society.

The ACCS acknowledges the challenges the Department of Education and Skills faces in meeting the growing demand for school places at post-primary level. With approximately 4,500 additional post-primary places needed for this year alone and post-primary student numbers potentially growing by an estimated 50,000 places by 2025, the scale of the challenge ahead is evident. Those figures come from the report, Projections of Full-time Enrolment: Primary and Second Level, 2017–2035. The ACCS acknowledges the in-depth analysis carried out by the future planning section of the Department of Education and Skills informing decisions on future accommodation needs. We also acknowledge that the section has agreed to meet us to explain exactly from where its findings earlier this year came.

From our submission the committee will see that 17 community and comprehensive schools have been involved in projects providing additional accommodation in schools over the past three years. These projects relate specifically to additional accommodation applied for using the ADA application form for post-primary schools. This additional accommodation can be divided into two main categories, namely, increased enrolment and provision of special needs units. Increased enrolment accounted for 11 of the projects, one of which also included a special needs unit, with six projects dedicated to the provision of special needs units. The preference in all cases is for permanent accommodation as opposed to temporary prefab rental. In four of the 17 projects the additional accommodation is being provided through prefabs. In future planning, ten community and comprehensive schools are listed for major works, with an additional two in active discussion with the Department and having had site visits from Department officials.

We acknowledge and recognise the work the Department has been doing directly with schools. Not included in our initial submission were a number of applications for different school accommodation. A significant number of major projects, either completed or in progress, also were not captured in the initial submission. It can be seen from my statement that eight schools completed major extensions in recent years. Other schools, including Ardee community school, Kinsale community school , Rathcoole community school, Blackwater community school, Pobalscoil Rosmini, Drumcondra, Mount Temple comprehensive school, Crescent College comprehensive, Limerick, Boyne community school, Ashbourne community school and Moate community school, were listed for ongoing major projects and extensions. This submission does not include works carried out under emergency works grants or the summer works scheme. A small number of applications for additional accommodation have not been successful on the basis that there was adequate accommodation in surrounding schools and schools were advised to review their admissions policy as demand for places exceeded availability in their school but not within the catchment area.

An area of significant concern for the ACCS is the maintenance of schools. During the economic downturn a moratorium on recruitment of caretaking, cleaning and secretarial supports in community and comprehensive schools was introduced. Despite a recovering economy, this moratorium remains in place and poses significant challenges for school management maintaining school buildings and sites. The number of caretakers is capped at one per school with an allocation of an equivalent number of cleaning hours. This is inadequate to meet the maintenance requirements of schools and is creating problems for the future. The ACCS asked in a pre-budget submission that this moratorium be addressed urgently to afford schools the opportunity to meet their obligations in maintaining schools and providing facilities to students and the communities they serve.