Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to reply on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who cannot be present, unfortunately. I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects, particularly the proposed project at Scoil losaf Naofa, Ballintemple national school. In March 2002, the school submitted an application to the Department of Education and Science for capital funding towards the provision of a new school. The school has a current staffing level of a principal and eight mainstream teachers. It also has the services of two learning support or resource teachers. The school has advised the Department that a site has been offered by the SMA Fathers. It has been agreed that appropriate accommodation should be provided to cater for a long-term projected staffing of a principal and 12 mainstream assistants, along with appropriate ancillary accommodation. The school authorities were advised in September 2007 that the proposed site for the new school building was suitable for the construction of a 12-classroom school and that they should proceed with its acquisition from the SMA Fathers.

As the Deputy will be aware, all applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity, etc. The process ultimately leads to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, each project is assigned a band rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. The criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the rating assigned to it. There are four ratings overall, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. Band 1 projects, for example, involve the provision of buildings where none exists, but where there is a high demand for pupil places. A band 4 project involves the provision of desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities. Each band rating has a number of sub-categories which more specifically describe the type of works needed and the urgency attaching to them. The application from Scoil losaf Naofa, Ballintemple national school, has been assigned a band 1.1 rating.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the modernisation of the facilities in our existing building stock, like the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth, is a significant challenge. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. However, the level of demand on the school building programme means that all projects cannot be carried out together. They will have to be carried out over time in a structured and coherent manner. This is the reasoning behind the Department's published prioritisation criteria. The project at Scoil losaf Naofa, Ballintemple national school, will be carried out in a manner that is consistent with this approach. I thank the Deputy again for raising the matter and, as I have already said, to assure him that the Minister is committed to advancing the project at Ballintemple national school.

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