Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the position with regard to the proposed building project for scoil náisiúnta Cronain Naofa, Dromakeenan, County Offaly.

Scoil náisiúnta Cronáin Naofa is a fully vertical co-educational facility. This means it caters for boys and girls from junior infants to sixth class inclusive. The enrolment as at 30 September 2008 was 249 pupils. The school has a current staffing of a principal, nine mainstream assistants, three learning support teachers and one special class teacher.

The school has applied to the Department of Education and Science for large-scale capital funding for an extension and refurbishment project. In common with all applications for large-scale capital funding, the application was assessed in accordance with the Department's published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. It has been assigned a band 2.4 rating under this process. A band rating reflects the type and extent of work needed at a school and the urgency attaching to it. In this case, the band 2.4 rating reflects the fact that the school has a deficit of mainstream accommodation but this deficit is not as significant as that of higher band rated projects. The school also needs a refurbishment. Overall, the Department of Education and Science intends to provide the school with suitable accommodation for a five-teacher school.

The project was on the Department's capital programme for 2007 to advance to tender and construction. Tenders were submitted late last year. Unfortunately, the funding was not available to allow the project to progress to construction at that time, and this continues to be the case. As the Minister has said in this House many times, due to the extent of the demand on the Department's capital budget, all school accommodation needs cannot be met together. They can only be met incrementally over time in a structured and orderly manner. We must be realistic in accepting that there was significant under-investment in school buildings over decades. Taken together with the current extra demands on the Department's capital budget from newly emerging communities with little or no school infrastructure, and the growing need to provide for special needs pupils, the Department must have an orderly process for allocating capital funding to ensure that the most critical needs are met first.

The Minister appreciates that boards of management and wider school communities are anxious to see their individual building projects proceed as quickly as possible. The Minister has no desire to see schools in less than suitable accommodation. However, he is also realistic about what needs to be done on a nationwide basis and is anxious to ensure that the resources of the Department are targeted at the most urgent needs first.

The Department of Education and Science's capital allocation for next year will amount to €581 million. This will allow it to continue to invest significantly in primary and post-primary school buildings throughout the country in order to provide additional school places and continue the Department's programme of modernising existing schools. Annual capital resources of this magnitude have allowed the Department of Education and Science to deliver more than 7,800 building projects under the last national development plan alone. The Minister is looking forward to building on this unprecedented level of work with the €4.5 billion allocated under the current national development plan.

I thank the Deputies again for raising this matter and assure them that the project for scoil náisiúnta Cronain Naofa will be considered for advancement under the Department's school building and modernisation programme as and when the funding becomes available and consistently with the priority attaching to it.

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