Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I sincerely thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter concerning the delay in — the long-fingering of — or the placing of additional obstacles or burdens before a number of school projects in County Westmeath which have already commenced.

In the case of Clonmellon national school in north Westmeath, on the October bank holiday weekend last a digger was ready to come on site. The locals, board of management, parents, students and residents of the general Clonmellon area were beside themselves with excitement. The next minute they got word that the project was put on hold. I raised this issue in respect of a number of schools by way of parliamentary questions, the replies to which stated that tender reports were under examination and that a report was being awaited regarding Gainstown.

The handbrake has been put down on a number of projects in which all necessary steps were taken. What has occurred in respect of Ballynacarriga national school, my old school, is disgraceful. It is in a CLÁR area, is part of the DEIS programme and has 96 pupils, but no accommodation has been provided. Four additional rooms to implement the various policies are required. The parents council, the board of management and the teachers are disappointed and hurt. It is similar in Louighahar, an area with an expanding population that needs a new school. The parents, teachers and principal worked hard, but were let down by the Government. People are asking where the money has gone or, to use an agricultural term, where is the beef.

In 1998, on the advice of the Department's inspector, Clonmellon national school applied for two new classrooms to replace substandard rooms in a 1936 building. In 1999, it was given permission for the new classrooms and the conversion of the 1936 building into a remedial room, library and computer room and a design team was appointed. In 2000 following the Department's advice, the brief was changed due to increasing enrolments to build three extra classrooms, a general purpose room and ancillary rooms. In February 2001, plans were approved by the Department and, in November 2001, the school was advised to proceed to seek planning permission, as it was to be fast-tracked. Permission for an extension was granted in May 2002.

In May 2004, the school received word from the Department to the effect that the latter wanted changes made to the plans before applying for planning permission. When the Department was told the school already had planning permission, the former claimed that the latter had not been given permission to do so. In 2006 following a meeting with the Department's chief architect and a revision of the cost plan for the extension, the Department decided it was more economically viable to demolish the school and to build a new generic repeat design building. The school was assured it would be fast-tracked, as it should be given that eight years had passed.

In 2007, the plans had been finalised, planning permission had been granted and the project had gone to tender when the blow came, namely, the Department informed the school that it must wait until budget day to see if there will be funds to continue. If insufficient funds are available, the Minister will make the final selection as to which projects will proceed.

The situation is the same in Gainstown, an area on the fringes of Mullingar with a large population base and an excellent school. In November 2007, the initial application for a building was made and all 15 stages of background work were completed as required. Expenses had been paid, the project was under budget and a letter had been received from the Department's architect stating it was allowing the project to proceed to construction without any further approval. Why is capital spending being taken from Gainstown when the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, stated on 19 November that capital spending is to be increased in this year's budget?

The school received a letter dated 7 November which stated that, if the school wanted to invite tenders for the project, it must seek written approval from the Department to commence the process and that, if the school had already initiated the tender project, which was the case, the school must obtain the Department's written approval to award a contract. It is a delaying process.

The letter of 7 November was addressed to the chairman and not Fr. Kilmartin, the chairman of the board of management. What is occurring? The project is under budget and has been on time with each phase. To stop the Gainstown building project now is not sound financial practice. Gainstown's submission is a model submission and has been from the outset. The school made contact and was told that all schools got the letter, it was a countrywide issue, everything, including expenditure, is to be monitored and re-examined and the school is up the line. Why is the school up the line? It is eight years down the road. A snail could get to Dublin from Mullingar in that time.

In recent days, another handbrake has been placed on the development of Athlone community college. In November 2006, the CEO and others were informed that the second phase of schools with applications submitted for major development work, a total of 18, were invited to enter into the architectural design process. The college, which was one of the schools selected, was invited to an information meeting with others. The college went and was thrilled to be informed by the Department that there would be no delays, but there has been a lack of progress. The Westmeath VEC is unhappy with the lack of progress in this project and the manner in which the timescale given by the Department has not been adhered to. Last week, it met officials and was assured it would be given approval to appoint a project supervisor for the design phase before moving on to a full design team. Unfortunately, the project has stalled.

There are similar concerns in Kinnegad, where a new school was promised in school accommodation reports. The Department will not confirm which bodies will be involved therein, whether it will be the VEC, the college etc. Mullingar's new school is off the radar for the time being. What signal is the Department's radar reading? This is a critical matter for a number of County Westmeath's schools. I ask that the handbrake be released and funding be allowed to flow to the Clonmellon, Louighahar, Gainstown and Ballynacarriga national schools and Athlone community college. I want the green light to be given to schools in Kinnegad and Mullingar because their burgeoning populations must be accommodated.

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