Dáil debates

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

Adjournment Debate

Schools Building Projects.

9:00 pm

Photo of John O'MahonyJohn O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I protest in the strongest possible terms at the unacceptable treatment of three applications for new school buildings in County Mayo.

The principal and board of management of Midfield national school, Swinford, have been pursuing building extension and renovation works for over ten years. The Department of Education and Science's consultants acknowledged the school's urgent need in 1998 and €30,000 was spent on professional fees. The project went to the costing stage but was then shelved.

In 2006 the school authorities were advised to re-apply under the small schools scheme and an architect was commissioned to carry out a report. He noted that other businesses would be shut down under health and safety regulations as the classrooms, heating system, sewerage system, roof, windows, toilets and play areas were all substandard. The septic tank is seeping sewage near the play areas. This application will become an emergency in September 2008 when projected numbers will necessitate the employment of an extra teacher. The school is trying to function under Third World conditions while coping with the increasing numbers of children being enrolled. One parent asked me in the context of the Taoiseach's announcement last December of €5 million for shanty towns in Cape Town how the school could be treated so badly.

Gaelscoil Uileog De Búrca in Claremorris opened in 1989 with an enrolment of eight children. Attendance is currently 109 children and the projected enrolment for next year is 120. In 1998 the then Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Martin, promised a new school if a site was agreed. The site was purchased in 2005 and further land was acquired in 2007. The Department has promised a new eight-classroom school and the sanction of the current Minister, Deputy Hanafin, is awaited. The school has operated for ten years out of an old, dilapidated two-teacher premises with four prefabs at an annual rent of €70,000. The school could have been built for the amount of money that had to be spent leasing prefabs.

St. Joseph's national school, Bonniconlon, is another project which has been ongoing for more than 10 years, causing frustration for teachers, pupils, parents and the board of management. In 2000 the local community began fundraising for the local contribution and accessed alternative accommodation to have everything in readiness when the application passed through the various planning stages. The Minister sanctioned the building of the new school at a meeting in Knock in 2006. The board of management was told on umpteen occasions that the building would go to tender in January 2008 only to get the dreaded phone call from the Department in the week before Christmas. The board of management is now totally frustrated and feels isolated, particularly following the emergence of the recent list of school building projects in respect of which the go-ahead was announced at the end of January.

The Minister and the Department have assured us that resources are not solely going into rapidly developing areas but the evidence points to the contrary. The three schools to which I refer are situated in areas of developing population and the teachers, parents and boards of management are very angry at the lack of transparency in the system which gave the go-ahead to the recently announced projects and left those to which I refer, which are long awaited and much needed, in limbo.

Under previous Administrations, the school building programme was considered slow but fair and schools knew their place in the queue. However, school boards of management throughout the country are now questioning the transparency of a programme that is excluding previously approved schools without explanation. There is genuine anger in those schools that have waited years for projects involving renovations, extensions or the construction of new school buildings to commence and in respect of which progress is yet to be made. In the meantime, other schools appear to be getting the go-ahead to proceed to construction and this is leading to complaints about the lack of transparency in the process.

I call on the Minister to include the schools to which I refer in the next round of announcements in order that the communities they serve can have access, in appropriate school buildings, to the high standard of education they richly deserve.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy O'Mahony for raising this matter. I welcome the opportunity to outline to the House the Department of Education and Science's position regarding the provision of new school buildings for Bonniconlon national school, Gaelscoil Uileog De Búrca and St. Joseph's national school, Midfield, Swinford.

In the lifetime of the national development plan, almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. Approximately €600 million of this will be spent this year on school buildings. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools. This investment will facilitate the provision of new schools and extensions in developing areas and the improvement of existing schools through the provision of replacement schools, extensions or large-scale refurbishments in the coming years. The progression of all large-scale building projects from initial design stage through to construction phase is considered on an ongoing basis in the context of the national development plan and the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme.

As regards the position of the three schools to which Deputy O'Mahony refers, the project relating to Bonniconlon national school is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning in respect of the provision of a new three-classroom school. I understand the tender documentation for this project is nearing completion. The Minister for Education and Science intends to announce projects that will proceed to construction during the year and Bonniconlon will be considered in this context.

A site for a proposed new school building for Gaelscoil Uileog De Búrca was acquired last year and an assessment of projected enrolment trends, demographic trends and housing developments in the area will be required in order to determine the long-term projected staffing figure on which the school's accommodation needs will be based. It is heartening to note that a school established in 1989 with eight pupils now has an enrolment of 109. The latter is expected to rise to 120 next year. I am a great supporter of gaelscoileanna, which offer an opportunity for children in schools outside the Gaeltacht to pursue their studies through the medium of Irish.

St. Joseph's national school, Midfield, previously applied for an extension and refurbishment to provide for improved ancillary accommodation, such as a general purpose room, a multipurpose or staff room, a remedial room and a general office. The proposed project did not include additional mainstream classrooms. However, in January of this year the Department of Education and Science received a new application in respect of additional accommodation. This will be considered in the context of the multi-annual school building and modernisation programme.

On behalf of the Minister, I wish to assure the Deputy that she and her Department are committed to providing high-quality accommodation for Bonniconlon national school, Gaelscoil Uileog De Búrca and St. Joseph's national school, Midfield, at the earliest possible date. I will communicate to her the strong view expressed by Deputy O'Mahony.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.35 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 21 February 2008.