Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise this important matter concerning Scoil Mhuire in Buncrana, County Donegal, on the Inishowen peninsula. Scoil Mhuire is one of four secondary schools in the Inishowen peninsula. That may sound like a lot of schools for one part of a county or constituency but the Inishowen peninsula is bigger than County Louth. That is an indication of the geography we are dealing with and given the projected increases in population, there will be a need for the retention of these four secondary schools in their current form.

Based on 2003 figures, 860 people — 60 staff and 800 students — have to work in an environment which can only cater for 600 people. That is not appropriate from an education or a health and safety point of view. The board of management and the principal have been lobbying for a long time to try to get an extension to this school. A total of 25% of the students spend their time in 13 prefabricated buildings. That is not appropriate from an education viewpoint but it is also not a satisfactory environment in terms of the ambitious new programmes the school is challenging itself with, be it in the area of technology or different types of learning. An indication of the problem we are dealing with is the fact that some of the prefabs date back to the 1960s.

The application for funding was submitted eight years ago and the school authority would like to know the stage of the project. What is the Department of Education and Science's track in terms of the band rating it has been assigned? The most recent figure given was 2.5, which the Minister of State will probably give me now. I want to highlight the fact that this is an excellent school with an ambitious principal and board of management. They want to continue with the type of learning they are engaged in, especially given that it is a disadvantaged area where they have very high retention records. They want to be positive in terms of working with the Department. They do not want to take a negative view. They are willing to work closely with the Minister and the Minister of State present.

I will continue to raise this issue during my time in this House. I look forward to a favourable response from the Minister of State. Unlike the Seanad, I realise I cannot ask a supplementary question in this House. I see the Ceann Comhairle's head nodding in agreement with me. There was great flexibility in the Seanad when it came to supplementary questions. We do not have that facility here and I suppose I will get a prepared reply. Irrespective of the type of process used in this House, I want the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, to feed this back to the Minister, Deputy Hanafin.

I look forward to working with the Minister of State on this issue, to expedite it and to put in place a proper education environment for students who do not have one. Even from a health and safety point of view, they have been compromised in the past, albeit in a small manner. We certainly cannot compromise students or staff in terms of health and safety. This should be expedited and treated as a matter of urgency and I look forward to a firm commitment from the Minister of State today on the matter.

As I began hastily, I forgot to congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, on his new position and I wish him all the best in it.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, a Cheann Comhairle, I congratulate you on your election as Cheann Comhairle. I also congratulate Deputy McHugh on his election to the Dáil.

I thank Deputy McHugh for raising the matter as it affords me the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the position regarding the development of education provision in Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana, County Donegal.

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 as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, the Government has shown a focused determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure that appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

As evidence of this commitment, more than €540 million is to be spent on primary and post-primary school building and modernisation projects in the coming year throughout the country. Since 1997, a total of €3 billion has been invested in school buildings and this has delivered more than 7,800 school building projects. This further investment in excess of €540 million will build on these achievements and will focus in particular on the provision of school accommodation in areas where the population is growing at a rapid rate. As further evidence of our commitment, national development plan funding of €4.5 billion will be invested in schools over the coming years.

I am sure the Deputy will agree that this record level of investment is a positive testament to the high priority the Government attaches to ensuring that school accommodation is of the highest standard possible. In addition, to reduce red tape and allow projects to move faster, responsibility for smaller projects has been devolved to school level. Standard designs have also been developed for eight and 16 classroom schools to facilitate speedier delivery of projects and save on design fees. The design and build method is also used to expedite delivery where the use of standard designs is not possible. Taken together with the unprecedented level of funding available, these initiatives ensure that building projects are delivered in the fastest timeframe possible.

Scoil Mhuire Secondary School, Buncrana, is a co-educational post-primary school, with a current enrolment of 622 pupils. Enrolment trends in recent years at Scoil Mhuire have necessitated a review by my Department of demographic trends and housing developments in the area to ensure that any capital funding provided will deliver accommodation appropriate to the school's need into the future.

The Department is currently preparing the long-term projected enrolment on which the school's accommodation needs will be based and will shortly notify the school of same. The building project will be considered in the context of the multi-annual school building and modernisation programme.

I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter which allows me to outline the progress being made under the school building and modernisation programme and the position on Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana.