Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak. I compliment the Department of Education because any school that has been built, such as Clarin College in Athenry or the Presentation College in Athenry, or other schools I have seen around the place, are absolutely brilliant legacies to have. The problem is that is has taken years to get them to where they are. When they are built, the modern educational facilities we are now providing are a credit to the Department and their expertise. The issue we have right now regarding costs for schools is that the costs have risen. I understand the Department had to up its cost limit for schools by over 21% early last year. That is a fairly heavy lift to give at any stage, as I know from when I was in the construction business myself.

It was very hard to get the Department to lift the cost limit to any degree on the basis that it did not want to be upping the prices. In fairness, that is a problem. What it is missing for me is how come it is only now that we are putting a stall on projects. We should perhaps have been looking at how we would cope with this six months or a year ago. Perhaps we were.

There are a lot of schools in my constituency. For instance, there is a proposal to amalgamate the two national schools and a gaelscoil campus needs to be provided in Athenry. I understand the site has been procured. In Tuam, three national schools have amalgamated and a new 32-classroom school is due to be built in the centre of the town. Educate Together has to relocate to another building. A lot of work needs to be done.

Presentation College in Headford has been approved for an extension. Archbishop McHale College in Tuam wants to complete phase 2 of its project. High Cross College, a new school in Tuam formed following the amalgamation of the Presentation and Mercy secondary schools, will need facilities. There is a lot of work to be done and a lot of expectation. It is very exciting.

Gort National School requires an extension. Last weekend, I visited Craughwell National School where an extension is being completed. When I was in the Office of Public Works in 2016, the project came to my attention. At that stage, we tried to get it through planning. It will only be completed in 2023. It is a major extension. The problem is that, as others have said, the journey a school goes on from when a need is identified to when it gets a key to go in the door is a fairly long one. We have to try to improve on that.

I was an educator before being elected to this House. If schools have the modern facilities to be able to teach people in a modern environment that is of utmost importance. We also have to remember that what we are designing now has to take into account our experiences during Covid so that we have no narrow corridors and more courtyards and circulation spaces so that the experience of going to school is a positive one. The projects I have seen built by the Department are top-class.

We need to make sure that we stay ahead of the costs. We will have to take more money from the budget for the national development plan and use it to meet inflation. That is the challenge for all construction and it is no different in education. I implore the Minister, Deputy Foley, to make sure there is an adequate supply of money to ensure that the exciting projects we are going to complete are done in a timely fashion.

Schools are communities comprising parents, teachers and students. There is an expectation created and everybody is involved. When fundraising is happening there is a feelgood factor, but the most important thing is that we should not let people down by delaying projects. It is important to publish information on the schools projects that have been stalled so that we clear the air and everybody knows what is happening.

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