Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, for coming in to discuss this matter. When the then Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, announced what was perhaps one of the most significant capital building programmes ever announced by the Department of Education and Skills in early 2012, the fact that three schools in Athenry were included in the announcement was greeted with much relief in the town and hinterland because the town has experienced significant demographic growth in the past decade, not alone because it is a burgeoning market town but also because it is becoming a dormitory town for the city of Galway. With the recent announcement of an almost €1 billion investment by Apple in the future of Athenry one has to expect that the numbers will continue to grow.

The list that was published by the then Minister, Deputy Quinn, in early 2012 was based purely on the demographic challenges faced by us at the time and that we continue to face in terms of responding to the needs of schools that were growing exponentially in terms of their enrolment. At the time there were three schools in Athenry on the list. One was Gaelscoil Riada, the second was the Presentation College and the third was Gairmscoil Mhuire. All three schools were listed at the time for new development. It was acknowledged at the time that finding sites for three such developments in Athenry would be difficult, and it has proven to be exactly the case. It has been very difficult to find or acquire sites and more than three years later, we are not yet at a point where definite sites have been acquired and are ready to go to planning permission for any of the three schools.

I have become increasingly frustrated with my engagement with the Department of Education and Skills in trying to garner some information from it as to where exactly we stand with each of the three schools. I will provide a quick overview of the current situation in terms of school enrolments in the three schools and the kind of facilities they have to work with. Presentation College has 1,200 students and teachers and it operates on a site of just under 2 acres, including 26 prefabs. It has no outdoor play area where young people can take part in any kind of sporting activity. Gaelscoil Riada has 285 pupils, with 53 more already registered for next year. All the classrooms are prefabs. There are no permanent buildings. The school occupies what was described as a temporary site more than five years ago. Gairmscoil Mhuire has approaching 700 students and staff, again on a very restricted site, with a seriously substandard building that has a flat roof suffering major water ingress issues all over it. I was in the school about two months ago and learned the school had to construct a very elaborate series of internal pipes to take away water that was leaking from the roof into the school’s internal water system, which it should not have to do.

All that the boards of management and the parents associations of each of the three schools seek is something that should be very easily given to them, namely, information as to where exactly we are in terms of acquiring a site for each of the three schools. The Department seems to be very reticent about sharing the information, despite the fact that in a small town the size of Athenry, everyone is very much aware of the landowners with which the Department is engaging and to a certain extent where the schools are likely to be constructed. The situation is very unfair, in particular on the boards of management and the principals of the schools who have to respond as best they can to questions from parents as to the Department’s plans and where exactly the development of their school lies.

I seek a simple response from the Department on where exactly we are at and how far away we are from lodging planning applications and acquiring sites for each of the three schools. I understand in one or two cases we are very close to completion of the preliminary stage and to getting under way. What is disappointing is the fact that despite numerous letters to the Department from each of the three schools in an effort to elicit some information, they receive nothing but silence or every now and then a letter which does not add any information to the information they already have. It would be great if the information vacuum could be addressed and a regular update could be provided by the Department on where it stands. That would serve to help the schools to address the many challenges they have in managing their schools on a daily basis and also in engaging with parents.

See this speech in context