Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the important matter of the lack of facilities at Ashbourne community school. Ashbourne is one of the fastest growing communities not only in Meath but in Ireland. Within living memory it was a small, rural village. The local community school lies at the heart and well-being of Ashbourne and the surrounding area. I visited Ashbourne community school last week with the Fine Gael Party spokesperson on education and science, Deputy Enright. We wanted to see at first hand the situation at this well established community school in County Meath. We met the principal Ms Áine O'Sullivan and some of her teaching colleagues.

Ashbourne community school has an outstanding reputation across a wide area of Meath and parishes in north Dublin. The school like almost nothing else has bound the people of Ashbourne and the neighbouring parishes together as a community. I got to know the community school, its staff and pupils well since I was elected a Deputy last year. One of my first public events was to address the transition year students. The obvious lack of facilities for young people in Ashbourne generally, and more particularly in the community school, struck me very forcefully. Ashbourne community school has primitive facilities for physical education for its 918 pupils. The existing PE facilities were built for a much smaller school population. They must also be used for other general school subjects. This is unfair to the pupils and their dedicated teachers when trying to encourage physical activity among young people.

The most startling and shocking aspect of our recent visit to Ashbourne community school for both Deputy Enright and me was the lack of a proper, modern canteen for the students. Most students sat along the corridors of the school eating their lunch. ln the era of the Celtic tiger that must be addressed urgently. A solution to this appalling situation can no longer be long fingered by the Minister for Education and Science.

Ashbourne has grown in leaps and bounds since the community school first opened its doors. The student population has significantly outgrown the existing facilities in the school. This has placed significant additional pressures on the excellent teaching staff and pupils of the school. The lack of a proper canteen and proper PE facilities are only two of the obvious limitations of the existing building. The teachers, pupils and the parents of Ashbourne community school deserve better. The school is involved in ongoing fund-raising to provide the basic facilities that should be an integral part of any second-level school. That is not as it should be. The Department of Education and Science must accept its responsibilities to provide basic facilities such as a canteen area. The Minister for Education and Science's response must give a clear indication of the funding being made available for this project and a realistic timeframe for the work to be completed in Ashbourne community school. The current situation for the staff, students and their parents is intolerable and cannot be allowed to continue.

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I will take this adjournment on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it affords me an opportunity to outline to the House the current position of the Department of Education and Science regarding the application for additional accommodation at Ashbourne community school, County Meath.

Meeting the modernisation needs of our 3,200 primary and 750 post primary schools and responding to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth is a major priority for the Government. Since taking office, this Government has shown a sincere determination to improve and modernise conditions of our school buildings and to ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. This Government has invested in the largest school building programme in the history of the State. Between 1998 and the end of 2004, almost €2 billion was invested in school buildings and approximately 7,500 large and small projects were completed in schools including 130 new schools and 510 large scale refurbishments or extensions. Funding for school building and renovation projects increased five-fold since 1997. In 2006, €491 million will be spent on school building projects, compared to just €92 million in 1997. The 2006 allocation is, in its own right, an increase of more than 9% in real terms on the 2005 allocation. As the Deputy will be aware, at the end of last year the Minister for Education and Science outlined the spending plans for primary and post-primary schools for 2006. With €491 million to be spent on school buildings, more than 1,300 projects will be active in schools all over the country. This significant investment will allow the Minister for Education and Science to continue to progress the major programme of school building and modernisation which includes improving equipment needed for new technologies and ICT.

With regard to Ashbourne community school itself, this is a co-educational post-primary school. It has a current enrolment of 917 pupils. The Department recently completed a major extension project at the school at a cost in excess of €2.5 million to cater for the school's long-term accommodation needs which was projected at 1,000 pupil places.

The school authority currently has an application with the Department of Education and Science for a PE hall. This application will be considered in line with the overall criteria for the selection of capital projects as revised last year following consultation with the education partners. These criteria are structured to ensure, as a matter of top priority, that no child is left without a place to attend school, special needs provision is made to allow access for all and problems are resolved as quickly as possible where the day-to-day functionality of a school is threatened. No application has been received for the provision of additional classroom accommodation at Ashbourne community school. The Department has been given no indication that there is a deficit of mainstream classrooms at the school. The accommodation capacity requirements associated with the school's current enrolment of 917 pupils has been addressed through the recent extension project. ln the circumstances the Department of Education and Science would not anticipate any application from the school for extra classrooms. If dining facilities are required by the school, it should make immediate contact with officials in school planning section of the Department of Education and Science for assistance with regard to submitting a revised capital funding application form. If circumstances have changed in relation to the school's overall capital funding requirements, immediate contact should be made with the school planning section of the Department of Education and Science so that the position with regard to the school's application for capital funding can be regularised and the process of re-assessing the application can be commenced.

I thank the Deputy once again for raising this matter.