John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to have the opportunity to raise the issue of the need to provide funding for the provision of a replacement playground at St. James's national school, Cappagh, County Limerick. Like many other schools in my constituency, St. James's national school applied for funding under the summer works scheme for the replacement of its original playground but this application was unsuccessful. An appeal is ongoing and I raise this matter with the Minister and her officials in the hope that the appeal will be successful.

The summer works scheme is a very practical scheme which has been beneficial to many schools throughout the country and throughout the constituency of Limerick West. I fully understand that due to the volume of applications received in the Department, priority must be given to necessary works such as roof repairs or replacement, windows and doors replacement, the upgrading of heating systems, electrical works and the upgrading of toilets.

Many schools have qualified under the terms of the scheme this year and will see work carried out during the summer months. It is important to recognise the practical nature of the scheme. Applications are invited and approvals are announced in the month of January. The approved applications go to tender and the work can be successfully carried out during the summer holidays between June and September. This cuts down on bureaucracy and red tape. Practical and sensible contracts are signed on the ground and works are completed quickly.

I understand the Minister was in a position this year to approve applications on categories 1 to 9. This is commendable and I praise the Minister for what she has done. Category 10 specifically refers to external works and such applications would this year have cost in the region of €20 million. It may be the case that some of those applications for external works were not regarded as priorities but I wish to make a strong case for St. James's national school in Cappagh to ensure that its 103 pupils have a play area. A fine new building was built on the site of the playground. The school is not asking for an enhanced playground with white lines for basketball courts; it is simply asking for a basic hardcourt area costing in the region of €50,000.

It might be suggested that the local people should raise this money but there is a good reason this is not possible. Under the devolved grant scheme, the building of the school or the extension is left in the hands of the board of management and the staff of the school and this has worked very successfully in the case of St. James's school in Cappagh. During the course of that building, those parents in a small rural parish in west Limerick raised in excess of €50,000 to add to the grant they had received. It is not a question of asking the same people to raise additional funding for the playground.

The issue of replacement of the playground may have been lost in the application. I wish to emphasise that these children do not have a playground and they need a replacement playground. I understand the large volume of applications under category 10 for external works. I know of two applications from my constituency involving Ahalin primary school and Ballyhahil primary school, where the parents' councils, boards of management and the teaching staff have prioritised their applications on the basis of health and safety considerations. Departmental officials may have had good reasons for not considering the parking and health and safety considerations but it is now time to recognise that category 10 contains some genuine applications such as those I have referred to. The playground in Cappagh is very necessary, and parking facilities, safer access, dropping-off points and bus bays have all become very important areas of consideration for these local schools.

I appeal to the Minister that those schools be given favourable consideration in the appeals process and that there will be a favourable response to our requests.

Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Cregan for raising this matter as it affords me the opportunity to outline to this House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the position regarding the provision of a replacement playground at St. James's school, Cappagh, County Limerick.

Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task, given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. However, since taking office, this Government has shown a focused determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

The school in question, St. James's school, Cappagh, is a co-educational primary school with a September 2006 enrolment of 103 pupils. Enrolments at this school have been relatively stable with a slight increase in recent years, from 86 pupils in 2002 to 103 pupils in 2006.

The school originally submitted an application to the Department of Education and Science for major capital investment in its existing buildings. Having considered the school's accommodation needs, the school authorities were offered and accepted funding under the small schools initiative in 2005 to provide accommodation suitable to that of a four teacher school. This building project is currently under construction.

The school authorities made an application for the provision of a hardcourt play area under the summer works scheme 2007. Under the published prioritisation criteria governing this scheme, external environment projects, such as the provision of hard play areas fall into category 10. Unfortunately this particular category was not reached this year. The management of the school has appealed the decision and this appeal is currently under consideration in the Department of Education and Science.

I wish to inform the House that more than 1,100 modernisation projects to greatly improve facilities at schools under the 2007 summer works scheme were announced by the Department of Education and Science on 8 January 2007. A total of 641 primary schools and 324 post-primary schools around the country will receive funding to complete essential small scale capital projects.

I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter and allowing me, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science who is unable to be here as she is at this time on RTE discussing education matters, to outline the progress being made under the school building and modernisation programme and the position regarding the application for the provision of a replacement playground at St. James's school, Cappagh, County Limerick.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to raise the accommodation crisis at Carrig national school. Carrig national school is a rural school on the Tipperary-Offaly border. In 1994 the school was expanded to cater for a maximum of 75 pupils and three staff. In the 13 years since that last major expansion, the school population has increased to 91. It has four classroom teachers and two special needs teachers. With those six teachers, there are also five full-time special needs assistants, one part-time special needs assistant and a secretary, giving a total staff complement of 13.

I want to emphasise the commitment to special needs education at Carrig national school. Recognition of the basic right to education of every pupil is fundamental to the ethos of the school. Of the 91 pupils in the school, ten have been assessed with a variety of learning disabilities, such as severe speech and language disorder, profoundly deaf with epilepsy, Down's syndrome and autistic spectrum.

The needs of these pupils are of greatest importance to school management. The further enrolment of autistic children next year will have serious ramifications for the school generally and its accommodation needs. The school staff and board of management endeavour to provide the very best education possible for all the children in their educational care. This cannot be fully achieved without proper resources and the provision of satisfactory accommodation. The fact that parents, teachers and pupils learn sign language after school hours at night is proof of the dedication, caring ethos and determination to provide a rounded, well-balanced education for every one of the 91 pupils enrolled in Carrig national school.

A scheme of 74 houses is currently nearing completion in the catchment area, with construction beginning on another significant scheme of houses. There is also a planning application for 32 houses. All of this additional development will have a considerable impact on the future accommodation requirements of the school.

In response to the obvious accommodation need in terms of special needs and staff, the school management has applied for a devolved grant from the Department. A staff room, an extra classroom to replace a prefab, a learning support room, a resource room, an office, a library and a meeting room are required to adequately cater for the school's needs into the future. The school is currently using a teacher's toilet to store PE equipment and science equipment. As the school has no general purpose room, access to the PE curriculum is dictated by weather conditions, as are school assemblies. Therefore, the school also needs a general purpose room and a store room.

It is crucial that this school is included in the major capital projects that proceed this year. There is an acute accommodation crisis in Carrig national school, where first and second class and the learning support teacher are working in a damp, draughty prefab, which is costing the school a fortune to rent and heat. Surely this is a prime example of poor value for money, when two or three years' rent would pay for the construction of a badly needed new classroom.

Last year, the school unsuccessfully applied for an extension. It was apparent to the Department at the time that major capital investment was required to address the accommodation crisis in the school. This year, the school management has applied for funding under the devolved scheme. Failure to include this school under the devolved capital programme would be a travesty and simply incomprehensible to parents, teachers and the wider community. It is apparent from the planned housing development in the locality that additional school accommodation will be needed in the future. It is also blatantly obvious that the school needs additional facilities to meet the requirements of the special needs teachers and pupils.

The current overcrowding at Carrig national school is unacceptable. The teachers and pupils are placed at an unfair disadvantage because of the intolerable conditions prevailing on a daily basis. I ask the Minister, on behalf of the parents, teachers and board of management, to ensure the inclusion of this school in the 2007 building programme.

Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Lowry for raising the matter as it affords me the opportunity to outline to the House the position of the Department of Education and Science regarding the urgent need to include Carrig national school in the school building programme. Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, since taking office, the Government has shown a focused determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

Carrig national school is a co-educational primary school with a September 2006 enrolment of 91 pupils. Enrolments at the school have shown a slight increase in recent years, having increased from 72 pupils in 2002. The management authority of the school submitted an application under the small schools scheme of 2007 for accommodation appropriate to a four-teacher school. As the Deputy is aware, the Department of Education and Science has moved, where appropriate, towards a model of devolving funding to school authorities. Devolving of funding to school management authorities allows them to have control of their projects, assists in moving projects more quickly to tender and construction, and can also deliver better value for money. This particular devolved initiative was originally introduced on a pilot basis for 20 schools in the 2003 school building programme and due to the very positive feedback from schools has been extended in the school building programmes since then.

All applications received in the Department of Education and Science under this scheme, including the application from Carrig national school, are currently under active consideration and the list of successful applicants will be published as soon as possible. Once again, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and allowing me to outline the progress being made under the school building and modernisation programme and the position in regard to Carrig national school on the border of Offaly and the great historic county of Tipperary.