Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Loftus, Ms Mannion and their colleagues from the Department. Having been in a number of the new school buildings around the country, I know they are top class and very different from the schools I would have gone to myself, although those were very good schools. It is wonderful to see the level of ambition we now have in terms of school buildings and making sure they have the facilities that are needed in the modern age.

I thank the witnesses for the update that I asked for in regard to schools in Rathangan, Milltown, Newbridge and the Magee Barracks school in Kildare. I accept this discussion is at a national level and that we are not necessarily getting into specifics. On that basis, with regard to where we are now, there are a few questions I want to put to the witnesses, and these are mainly around the area of inflation.

As we know from a recent article in The Irish Times, there was concern that 58 school projects would be delayed because of funding pressures, although they were due to go to tender or construction this year. I want to focus on the central arrangements that are in place to deal with inflation.

If we need school buildings, we obviously need them now. It is incredibly unfortunate that we have a situation where inflation has gone up so much, but we want to ensure that building projects go ahead. I ask the officials to fill me in on that.

I will touch on the need for all schools to have PE halls, etc. School labs are also important. The committee previously recommended that every school should have a library. We see a library as essential to any school. The increase in hot meals, which is very welcome, means there have to be catering facilities. It is clear that we need to keep developing. How do the officials make those decisions and incorporate them?

Some schools, when they are offered modular buildings as opposed to just the standard type of construction, are concerned that it may not be up to the same standard. Will the officials outline the difference between modular and the standard, traditional build?

When the Department is looking at the need for a new school in an area, I am concerned that some primary schools are not feeder schools into any secondary schools. That is a problem at Milltown, just outside Newbridge, which is an area under very high pressure, as the officials are aware. I have no doubt there is now a need to start planning for a new primary school there. I am concerned, however, that a primary school in a small village that does not have a secondary school is not a feeder school into any secondary school in the area. That is a problem. How do we address it?