Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Deputy will recall that about a fortnight ago, he and Deputy Cahill accompanied me to the campus of Mary Immaculate Teacher Training College where we met the students and senior management. Clearly, the indications are that the authorities there would make a site on the campus available for such a new school. Deputies Lowry and Cahill advocated very strongly for that.

Deputy Lowry is aware that the project was approved for the school to provide additional accommodation comprising classrooms, accommodation for students with special educational needs and replacement of prefabs. This project had advanced to architectural planning stage. However, Tipperary Education and Training Board then asked the Department to reconsider the long-term needs of the school.

A proposal for a new school building on a greenfield site, which is essentially on the Mary Immaculate Teacher Training College campus, was received by the Department in March 2022. This necessitated a further comprehensive set of reports. These reports were provided by the education and training board to the Department in late October, which is less than a month ago. The Department has been reviewing and considering all of this information.

I spoke with the Minister for Education about this following my meeting with Deputies Cahill and Lowry about the optimal approach here and what could be exciting and have potential for the future. A meeting has been fixed for early December by the Department to discuss the accommodation needs of the school with a view to making an early decision in respect of its immediate and long-term needs. The Department agrees with the education and training board that the capital investment previously approved for the school needs to be increased - so the Department and the education and training board are at one there - so that the accommodation needs can be met.

The Department has also collated data relating to the most recent projections of school place requirements and has monitored the impact of the continuing arrival of Ukrainian students and other new arrivals in order to have the most complete picture possible. The Department's priority is to address critical school placement requirements, including for students with special educational needs. The accommodation needs of the school are being considered in that context. It is intended that a decision regarding the accommodation needs of the school will be made as soon as possible following the December meeting.

More generally, the Department is also committed to an energy retrofit programme for all schools built prior to 2008 in the context of meeting climate action goals. That may not be applicable in this case but is of general interest. A pilot pathfinder programme in conjunction with the SEAI is underway with a view to identifying viable and scalable solutions to roll out nationally. That is the current position.

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