Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the Department of Education and Science's position regarding Kilcredan national school, Castlemartyr, County Cork, and the need to address the sewerage system at the school and the provision of additional accommodation.

At present, Kilcredan national school has a staffing level of a principal plus eight mainstream teachers, one resource teacher, one shared resource teacher and learning support. The school had an enrolment of 216 pupils on 30 September last.

The primary responsibility for health and safety issues relating to school buildings rests with the school managerial authorities. To assist school authorities fulfil their obligations, an annual grant is paid to schools under the grant scheme for minor works. This is also known as the devolved grant. The level of grant paid amounts to €3,809 per school plus €12.70 per pupil and was paid last December for the current school year. If the board of management of Kilcredan national school is unable to resolve the sewerage problem through the use of this grant, it should contact the Department of Education and Science to progress the matter.

I am pleased to inform the House that a full design team has been appointed and the architectural design of the major project to provide additional accommodation at the school is progressing. Kilcredan national school is listed in section 9 of the 2004 school building programme which is published on the Department's website. This proposed project is at stages four to five of architectural planning. It has been assigned a band three rating by the Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects.

The Department grant aids the rental of temporary accommodation in respect of primary schools requiring interim accommodation to cater for schools awaiting the provision of permanent accommodation. Formal application for such grant aid should be made to the school planning section of the Department on the appropriate form. This form has been forwarded to the management authority of Kilcredan national school for completion. I again take the opportunity to thank the Deputy for raising this issue.

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