Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to reply on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan, who, unfortunately, cannot be present. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and to outline the current position of the proposed amalgamation of Cahir boys national school and Our Lady of Mercy national school.

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 the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. The Department's planning and building unit assesses all applications for capital funding. 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. leading ultimately 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. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners.

The staffing level of Cahir boys national school comprises a principal, seven mainstream assistants, two permanent learning support teachers, one release time post and two temporary language support posts. It had an enrolment of 180 pupils in September 2009. Our Lady of Mercy national school has a current staffing level of a principal, 11 mainstream assistants, one permanent shared resource teacher for Travellers, one permanent resource teacher, two learning support-resource and two temporary language support teachers. It had an enrolment of 298 pupils in September 2009. In 2004, agreement was reached to amalgamate the two primary schools in Cahir. The application was assessed and the project was assigned a band rating of 1.4. The long-term projected staffing for the proposed amalgamated school was determined as an administrative principal, 24 mainstream assistants and four learning support-resource teachers. A special needs unit will also be provided as part of the accommodation.

A technical inspection was carried out in 2006 on the existing school buildings to determine which would be suitable to act as a host for the amalgamated school. The report concluded the most suitable building to facilitate the amalgamation would be the girls' school due to its relatively large floor area, good condition of the general building fabric, reasonable development potential and relatively good access to a public roadway. The report also recommended an additional portion of land be acquired from the Sisters of Mercy to the north east of Our Lady of Mercy national school to facilitate the development. The Department has received an offer of lands from the Sisters of Mercy under the residential institutions redress compensation scheme. The Department is considering this offer in the context of the religious order's response to the Government request for an increase in its contribution under the redress scheme.

On conclusion of the acquisition of the site, the progression of this building project required to facilitate the amalgamation from initial design stage through to construction is dependent on the prioritisation of competing demands on the funding available under the Department's capital budget. The amalgamated school building project for the primary schools in Cahir, County Tipperary, will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme. I thank the Deputy again for giving me the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the current position regarding the school building project for the primary schools in Cahir, County Tipperary.

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