Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter. Gaelscoil na Cruaiche is doing a wonderful job and is a great success. In September 2005, 197 pupils were enrolled, there were nine permanent staff, one full-time and three part-time special needs staff and eight part-time ancillary staff. Already, 210 pupils are enrolled for September 2006. At the moment, it exists in a five prefabs in poor condition, a serious health and safety issue. Its lease will expire at the end of next May but this lease is non-renewable. Therefore, it must have everything off the site at the end of that school term. As such, the school must be included in the building programme to ensure accommodation on January 2006.

I have raised this matter repeatedly and the answers I received include in December 2004 that the property management section of the Office of Public Works was exploring the possibility of acquiring a site and on 28 September that site negotiations are under way and once the site is finalised, the project will be considered in progression in the context of the building programme. Despite this, on 13 October 2005, I was informed by the Minister of Education and Science:

The property management section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of my Department regarding site acquisitions generally, has identified a suitable site for the school referred to by the Deputy. The OPW has been in contact with a vendor regarding the acquisition of a site and is now awaiting a response.

We need to know if this school is on the building list. The Minister guaranteed that once the site was secured, this would be the case. The Minister told me that when a school is needed, a school would be built. I urgently ask the Minister of State to give an undertaking tonight that a school will be provided. Otherwise, 197 pupils will be on the street, 210 by next year.

This issue has been well flagged. The Department has been aware for the past four or five years at least that the lease would expire and nothing less than a commitment tonight will do. Will the school be included in the building programme? Will the pupils be out on the road or will they have a new school? If not, why not? These pupils deserve the very best as they and their teachers have worked very hard and deserve more than to be left in this limbo situation.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter. We now know a site has been identified and bought, as the OPW has agreed a price. It is a matter for the Westport Town Council. As the Minister of State knows, the council can buy all the land it wants but cannot sell a blade of grass without a council meeting and this issue will be on the agenda over the next week or two.

We have fought long and hard to get the site. It has been identified and I hope it will be in the possession of the OPW in a very short time but what is now needed is a commitment from the Department of Education and Science that the school will be included in the schools building programme for next year.

Gaelscoil na Cruaiche has been a major success and many parents are worried about the conditions their children must be educated in. The teachers, staff and management of the school are quite concerned. As Deputy Cowley said, the school's lease is up next year. It is important to include it in the programme as, for the town of Westport and the teachers, pupils and management of the school, it is necessary.

This school has waited a long time. The people involved have been very patient. If a number of steps must be jumped, it must happen because we do not want to still be fighting this time next year to get the school included in the programme. We want a commitment from the Minister for Education and Science that these children will be approved a new school, the project will go out to tender and we will see the school built sometime next year so that pupils can look forward to entering their new school the following September.

The site has been found, identified and a price agreed. I want the Minister to make a commitment to the west, particularly Westport. Recent announcements were made concerning the schools building programme and I hope the Minister will announce over the next day or two that this school will be included in the programme for next year.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputies Ring and Cowley for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the proposals of the Department of Education and Science regarding the provision of a new facility for Gaelscoil na Cruaiche, Westport, County Mayo. Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of underinvestment in this area and the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth.

None the less, since taking office, this Government has shown a sincere determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. We progressively increased funding for the school modernisation programme in recent years to achieve our goal, with an aggregate total of almost €2 billion allocated for this purpose since 1998, the largest investment programme in the history of the State.

Since the beginning of the year, the Minister for Education and Science has made a number of announcements relating to the schools building and modernisation programme. This year alone, €270 million will be allocated to primary schools and €223 million to post-primary schools for building works. The Minister recently announced an investment of €555 million over the next four years in projects to be delivered by way of public private partnerships.

Gaelscoil na Cruaiche opened in September 1996 with provisional recognition and was then granted permanent recognition in 2000. The school is currently accommodated in prefabricated classrooms on a three quarter acre site in the town of Westport. The cost of site and classroom rental is grant-aided by the Department of Education and Science at the rate of 95%. Provision is built into the schools building programme to enable schools to address urgent health and safety problems. Primary schools are given an annual allocation, currently amounting to €3,809 plus €12.70 per pupil under the grant scheme for minor works, which can be used entirely at the discretion of school management to address basic health and safety issues relating to the school itself and its infrastructure.

The property management section of the Office of Public Works, which purchases sites for new schools on behalf of the Department of Education and Science, was requested to explore the possibility of acquiring a site for Gaelscoil na Cruaiche. Following the most recent advertisement placed by the OPW seeking proposals of possible sites, a number of responses were received. The OPW arranged technical assessments of a number of sites to consider their suitability as a location for the Gaelscoil. The OPW has now commenced negotiation for the purchase of a site for the school.

Due to commercial sensitivities, I am unable to comment further on specific site acquisitions but I can assure the Deputies that the permanent accommodation needs of this school are being addressed as expeditiously as possible and that the provision of a permanent building for the school will be progressed in the context of the school buildings and modernisation programme when the site has been acquired.

As the board and patrons are already aware, the provision of interim accommodation remains the responsibility of the board.

Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Will the Department of Education and Science pay?

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department will consider any proposal made by the school authority in this regard given the limitations on the existing arrangements. I thank both Deputies again for raising this matter.