Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I am sure the Minister of State will have appropriate, correct and good news for me.

There has been a long-standing problem with gaelscoil Bharra, an all-Irish school established in 1996 which has been in operation for more than 12 years. It was established in prefabricated buildings because there was nothing else there. Little did the students, parents and staff think that 12 years down the road they would still be in the same old dilapidated prefabricated buildings. These prefabricated buildings have been in use for considerably longer than the length of time for which they were designed. The classrooms are in a dreadful condition. They are not fit for human habitation and are certainly not fit to accommodate primary schoolchildren.

The toilets are blocked on a regular basis. The schoolyard gets flooded every time it rains and urgently needs to be resurfaced. We badly need a new school for the 230 pupils and staff. This has been repeatedly promised, but nothing has happened. The school has identified four classrooms as being particularly bad and made a proposal to the Minister to replace these four classrooms and resurface the schoolyard. The cost of that work would be approximately €400,000. The only reply the school has received is that the cost should be taken from the minor grant of €10,000 for remedial works. It would take approximately 40 years to pay that off without any interest.

A major protest was planned to be held in Parnell Square in the run-up to the 2002 election. It was called off at the last minute because the Taoiseach promised in writing to the school that the matter would be resolved and that he was 100% behind the parents, pupils and staff in getting a brand new school building. Strangely there has been no contact with the Taoiseach since that time, which is now almost six years ago. Every effort made by the staff and parents to meet the Taoiseach has failed. Although they managed to meet the Minister for Education and Science in 2003, that meeting did not achieve anything either.

At present pupils and staff are condemned to spend approximately six hours of each day in an unhealthy and damp building where the sewage comes up from the toilet and where the yard is flooded every time it rains. It really is not good enough that it has gone on for 12 years. On several occasions I have tabled parliamentary questions. The answer I got last week to a parliamentary question was an atrocious five-liner. Previous answers ran to approximately 20 lines containing some sort of explanation. The responses from the Department of Education and Science are getting even poorer. At least in the past we got assurances that the Department was seeking a fresh site or was preparing to build on the existing site. Now there is not even reference to that. All we get is a general reference to the multi-annual budget of the Department of Education and Science, with no mention of the construction of a replacement for these appalling buildings.

I would like to get something positive. The school is not going away. It has proved its viability and more pupils are coming in every year. I would like a positive commitment to a new school for the pupils of the area.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I believe I have the right answer this time.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I hope it is the right answer for me.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the current position regarding the future plans for gaelscoil Bharra.

Modernising facilities in our 3,300 primary and 731 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 consistent 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.

The Government has dramatically increased investment in the school building programme to almost €600 million this year. Under the lifetime of the NDP almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. 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. It will underpin a particular emphasis on the delivery of additional school places in rapidly developing areas, while continuing to develop on the Government's commitment to delivering improvements in the quality of existing primary and post primary accommodation throughout the country. It will also enable the purchase of sites to facilitate the smooth delivery of the school building programme, with the focus being on site requirements in rapidly developing areas.

On this specific matter, the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of the Department of Education and Science in site acquisitions generally, had been requested to source a greenfield site for this school. On foot of advertising, no proposals were received for a greenfield site in the Cabra area. Further to this, the OPW was requested by the Department to consider building a permanent school on the existing site. A number of issues have arisen regarding this proposal on which, I understand, clarification is being sought. When progress has been made, the school authorities will be notified immediately.

I again the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to outline to the House the current position regarding the future plans for gaelscoil Bharra.