Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

That is true. Absolutely.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock, in addition to meeting the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth, is a significant challenge. The Government has shown consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. The planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Skills 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 and site capacity, 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.

The staff of Dromclough national school comprises a principal, seven mainstream assistants and four permanent learning support or resource teachers. The school's enrolment at 30 September 2009 was 203 pupils, which represents an increase of 1% over the previous five years.

The forward planning section of the Department of Education and Skills has identified 43 priority areas throughout the country where significant additional accommodation will be required at primary and post-primary levels in the medium term. The indication from the forward planning section is that the Listowel area is not one where there is likely to be significant growth in demand for additional classroom accommodation in the short term.

The school authorities in question submitted an application for large-scale capital funding for an extension and refurbishment project. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects and assigned a band 2 rating. There are four band ratings under these criteria, each of which describes the extent of accommodation required and the urgency attaching to it. Band 1 is the highest priority rating and band 4 is the lowest. Band 2 comprises the second highest priority. Documents explaining the band rating system are available on the Department's website.

It has been agreed with the school that the long-term projected staffing will constitute a principal plus eight mainstream class assistants. The next steps for the progression of the school's major project include a technical visit. However, to date, it has not been possible to arrange such a visit in light of the demands on the resources of the Department.

In 2008, two additional prefabs were relocated to the school to alleviate its immediate accommodation difficulties. The school also received an ICT grant for the prefab being used as a mainstream classroom. In October 2010, the school was included in a list of schools that were approved a grant for water conservation measures.

The progression of all large-scale building projects, including this project, from initial design through to construction, will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual schools building and modernisation programme. However, in light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time.

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