John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to respond on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, who cannot be present, unfortunately. I thank Deputy Perry for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and the current position in respect of Carn national school, Gurteen, Ballymote, County Sligo. 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. It ultimately leads to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under 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 band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. Band 1 projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exists but there is a high demand for pupil places while a band 4 project makes provision for desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities. Each band rating has a number of sub-categories that more specifically describe the type of works needed and the urgency attaching to them.

The school to which Deputy Perry refers has a current staffing level of a principal and two mainstream teachers. The school also has the services of one learning support resource teacher. In 2009, the school had 66 pupils, which represents a 16% increase in enrolments in the past five years. The board of management of Carn national school applied for a new school in 2006. The application for major capital funding was assessed and assigned a band 2 rating. The Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, met a delegation from the school in late 2008 and undertook to review the band rating. In that context, a re-examination of the banding was recently conducted. However, the proposed project at Carn national school remains at a band 2 rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale projects available on the Department's website.

In December 2009, the Department contacted the school regarding the proposed site for the new school. Clarification was sought on site ownership, size and issues concerning title deeds and access. The school authorities responded, clarifying the site issues. The next step in the process will be a site visit. The Department's technical staff have been requested to schedule a site suitability assessment.

The Department has operated a summer works scheme for the past six years, which gives schools an opportunity to address issues such as upgrading electrical and mechanical elements, window replacement, roof replacement, toilet upgrade, disabled facilities, upgrade to play facilities, etc. Carn national school has only this year made an application for works under the summer works scheme. The application identified window replacement as the priority. Following an assessment process, projects will be selected for funding from all valid and approved applications on a top down basis in accordance with the prioritisation criteria published with the scheme. The timetable for the summer works scheme 2010 has also been published as part of the governing circular letter for the scheme. This circular letter is available on the Department's website. In accordance with the timetable, it is my intention to publish a list of successful summer works scheme applicants in March.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well as 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 to ensure that 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 is such that all projects cannot be carried out together. They will have to be carried out over time in a structured and coherent manner and this is the reasoning behind the Department's published prioritisation criteria. The project for Carn national school will be carried out consistent with this approach. I thank Deputy Perry for raising the matter and I assure him the Minister is committed to advancing the project for Carn national school.

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