Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations earlier. I listened in to them. I commend the good work being done all across County Mayo. We do have a problem, though, where there is not a growing population. There are, for example, 60 pupils in Midfield national school in Swinford. This school has been going since 1964 and there is poor infrastructure there. It has no hall of any shape or size whatsoever and this has been sought for several years. What strategy is there for the current condition of school facilities such as in this national school? These 60 pupils are as entitled to a hall and a play area as pupils anywhere else. What is it possible to do there and how can we progress this?

In another instance, I refer to where there is no suitable playground outside to facilitate children with disabilities, and especially children in wheelchairs. In Bangor Erris national school, for example, it is not possible to bring somebody out in a wheelchair and there is a wheelchair user there. This means nobody can use the yard, because we cannot have a situation where a child in a wheelchair is looking over a wall at other children playing. In this instance, we are not talking about large sums of money, but we are talking about an amount larger than that provided for in the works programme to allow the necessary work to be undertaken. What funding streams are available in this regard?

Turning to basic things, one is a shelter that children can go into when outside. From my school days, I remember the importance of the shelter, especially in the west of Ireland, to allow pupils to go in from the rain so they are not soaked wet going back into their classrooms. This is the situation in Saula national school in Achill, where there is no shelter. Applications have been made for such a shelter for many years and much fundraising undertaken, but the cost to get this done is still out of reach.

How do we get the balance right between what needs to be done concerning climate change and what needs to be done in terms of basic facilities for children, if all children are to be treated equally? When will the summer work scheme be open for applications for 2023? How are we going to get the balance right between climate projects and the traditional maintenance work and repairs that need to be done?

Given construction inflation and with all of these in the pipeline, how is the Department dealing with the fact that schools will have end submissions and costings from builders? Is the Department allowing extra funding for that construction inflation? Will the Department also allow for construction inflation in the summer works scheme and what people can get for it?

I have a number of other questions but I will give the witnesses time to answer those first.