Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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No. 1785 is correspondence from an individual regarding the Kolbe Special School, Portlaoise, County Laois. It is proposed to request information from the Department of Education on the matters raised regarding public expenditure and request the correspondent's consent to forward the correspondence to the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science also for policy considerations. Is that agreed? Agreed.

This is an individual item. I had not seen the correspondence until I came in this week. Kolbe Special School is one of the schools that were prioritised for a capital build in the schools building programme and is one of the 58 put on hold. A former Minister for Education said to me yesterday they cannot fathom why it is one of the ones put on hold or taken off the priority list. There was a public meeting on it last night in Portlaoise and it was packed to the rafters. If anyone doubts me, they should go and look at the conditions the school is in. It has been passed over for years. A significant number of new schools are being built in the county, all of which I welcome, but for some reason, the 43 children who are in the school and its staff have been passed over. They have profound difficulties. The equipment used by even two students would not fit into a small circle. Parents brought the equipment used by one of the children to the meeting last night. It would take the size of an average-size sitting room to house it. The school is operating out of small prefabricated buildings. There are eight prefab classrooms and only one solid classroom, and four roofs were leaking throughout the winter. It is intolerable and there are health and safety issues and everything else.

While I do not want to be too parochial about it, this is an extreme situation. I ask that with the committee's indulgence, we write to the Secretary General of the Department of Education and ask her these questions regarding the financing of the school. In my understanding, there is €160 million in the capital budget this year. What are the financial criteria used for removing a school from the priority list or putting it on hold? What basis was there for removing Kolbe school from the list? Who decides it? Is it a unit within the Department, is it the Secretary General and the Minister or is it a combination of that? Perhaps a principal officer is involved. A reappraisal is happening because some of the 58 schools may or may not make their way back onto the list. As I understand, a financial reappraisal of the 58 projects is being carried out. Who is doing that?

In summary, the questions relate to the financial criteria for selecting the 58 schools and the basis in the case of Kolbe. It is not a huge school. Who decides it? Is it the Minister with the Secretary General, a principal officer or other officials, or is it just at a political level, or is it a combination of that? Who is conducting the reappraisal to see which of the 58 schools can be got back on track? We will also ask the Department to clarify how much money is available. My understanding is there is €860 million for capital works this year and something like €650 million in a fund for remedial and smaller works over the next five years.