Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed by the slow development of much-needed school provision by the Government. In my constituency we have towns which are under serious pressure for mainstream school places at primary school level and it is becoming a crisis, with serious problems in Swords, Balbriggan and Donabate. Today, however, I am speaking directly to the problem of school places in one particular school. St. Michael’s House special school in Skerries is at maximum capacity in a building that is not fit for purpose. I am raising this matter today to impress on the Minister the urgent need to get the site acquisition process completed as soon as possible and for the new building for St. Michael’s House to be delivered without any further delays.

In the previous Government, of which the Minister and I were a part, and under Labour Party Ministers, we prioritised the provision of new schools in the worst of economic times. In 2015, I brought the then Minister, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, to St. Michael’s House in Skerries to see for herself the current building and how inadequate it is to meet the needs of the pupils. She recognised the need and the Department officials recognised the need but the prioritisation of the provision of new schools has been too slow.

I need a definitive answer to two questions in the Minister's response, and if they are not in his prepared response, he might please add them in advance of his reply. First, is money set aside to complete the purchase of the new site? Second, is money set aside to fund the construction of a new school building and will it go ahead without further delay once the site acquisition process has been completed?

The principal, staff and pupils and their families deserve answers to these questions. They deserve a timeline for this to happen and I hope that, in his response, the Minister will provide that.

The current building is unfit for purpose. The school has been housed there for 36 years and, unfortunately, the building is well past its use-by date. I have visited it several times. The mounting level of repairs needed just to keep the building in basic condition is financially onerous. The school received prefabs in recent years due to the poor state of the building and the benefits are acknowledged by everyone involved, but these are not long-term solutions and are merely putting the finger in the dam.

The school is at maximum capacity. There is no more space for any increase in the student body. Currently, pupils are only admitted when an existing pupil finishes his or her time at the school. With a maximum capacity of 30 pupils supported by 17 dedicated staff, the number of spaces that crops up is small. For the next academic year, there will be six spaces created by departing pupils. There are 21 applicants for these six spaces and, as such, 15 pupils and their families will be disappointed. I know some of those families personally. It is my understanding that no pupils are due to depart the following year, so no new places will be available. With a new building, St. Michael's House could increase its service provision to 92 pupils, thus trebling its current number. What a transformation that would be.

This vital service is desperately needed in north Dublin generally. From the time St. Michael's House was born in 1955, it has helped to change fundamentally how we as a country educate people with intellectual disabilities. It has been a leader in the development of community-based services for people with intellectual disabilities, providing services to 1,751 children and adults. St. Michael's House has demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout the years, but if it is to deliver its vital service, it requires assistance from the State in the form of a new building and facilities worthy of its staff and deserving of its pupils and their families. The school community needs certainty. The time for being unclear is over.

See this speech in context