Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this topical issue debate on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, as it gives me an opportunity to outline to the House my Department's position regarding the allocation of funding under the Department's emergency works scheme and, in particular, the applications received from the management authority of Scoil Mhuire national school, Meelick, County Clare. Application forms and guidelines for this scheme are available on my Department's website advising schools on how to apply for emergency funding, and also outlining the terms and conditions of the emergency works scheme.

The purpose of the emergency works scheme is solely for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for special needs pupils. An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to the health, life, property or the environment which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action, and in the case of a school, if not corrected would prevent the school or part thereof from opening. It is not intended that the emergency works scheme will be used to supplement previous applications under other schemes or to replace any other schemes provided by my Department.

The management authority of Scoil Mhuire national school, Meelick, County Clare, has submitted two applications under the emergency works scheme. The first of these was received on 8 July 2011, seeking funding to refurbish pupil and staff toilets in the school, and this was refused as it was outside the scope of the scheme. The second application was received on 18 February 2012, seeking funding to replace the roofs on both the permanent school building and the prefabricated building on the school site, completely resurface the hard play areas and carry out remedial works to sewer and surface water lines at the school.

On 1 March 2012, an official from my Department's planning and building unit contacted both the school authority and its consultant and informed them that the scale of the works was outside the scope of the scheme. The school authority was requested to identify the most urgent works required at the school and to reapply for these works in a scaled down scope of works, that is, to carry out repair work to the areas of roofs currently leaking and to identify the emergency works required to the sewerage system. Any such application will be given due consideration.

The school authority submitted a revised scope of works on 8 March 2012, but as the works requested for funding were still outside the type of works that would be funded under the emergency works scheme, the school authority was again informed that its application was not successful.

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