Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am glad to have the opportunity to raise this important issue. It concerns a school in Ballygarvan, outside Cork city, that was promised a new school building ten years ago this month by the then Minister, Deputy Micheál Martin. There have been five other Ministers since then but the school is still waiting. It has not even reached the stage of a site being purchased. This is extremely frustrating for the children, their parents, the school principal and the teachers.

At present, there are 265 pupils in the school. There are two permanent classrooms and eight prefabs. The site is just over half an acre and is full to capacity. There is no room to put any more prefabs on it. A site for a new school has been identified. It is in three parcels and the Department of Education and Science is fully aware of the details about purchasing it. Recently, it asked the diocese to purchase the site, which the diocese is willing to do if it gets an assurance from the Minister and the Department that a school will be built on it. The diocese does not wish to be left with a site and no school on it. The Department should be the driving force on this matter but it has failed to act.

The situation at the school has now become more urgent. At a recent meeting, the school principal informed the parents of 19 children that the school would be unable to accept their children next year. The school is at a stage where it can only accommodate siblings of the pupils in the school. Children who are living next door to the school, therefore, cannot be accommodated. There is no space on the site for additional classrooms. If the Department would ensure that the other site was purchased, perhaps that problem could be resolved.

The situation at the school has reached a crisis. It is in a rapidly developing area and in the past few weeks Cork County Council gave permission for the construction of 144 additional housing units in the village of Ballygarvan. One can readily estimate how many children will have to be accommodated in a school that is still on a waiting list for site purchase. This is an urgent problem, particularly for the 19 children who have been told there is no place for them in the school next year. They will not be going to school with their neighbours or friends in the locality. Instead, it appears they will have to seek school placements outside the village.

This matter is in the Minister's hands. He can act to ensure that the site is purchased and that the project moves to design stage immediately. It is in his interest and, more importantly, in the interests of the children in the school and their stressed teachers and principal.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It provides me with the opportunity to outline the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and the position on the provision of additional school accommodation for Ballygarvan national school.

The Government has dramatically increased investment in the schools building programme. Under the lifetime of the national development plan, 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. The Minister recently announced a list of schools to go to construction as part of the Government's commitment to providing additional school accommodation. The schools building projects announced by the Minister will provide permanent primary school places for more than 4,600 students in five new schools and 15 extended and modernised schools.

A further 3,000 students at post-primary level will benefit from one new school and three major extension and refurbishment projects. The provision of a new physical education hall in a post-primary school will benefit another 600 students. Seven of these schools building projects are in a position to start construction towards the end of the year. A further 15 are expected to be in a position to start construction in the first quarter of next year.

This year, more than €586 million will be spent on the schools building programme, with one third of that invested in rapidly developing areas. This has resulted in the delivery of 12,000 new school places in 2008, a record number in any one year. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment that reflects this Government's commitment to continuing the programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools. The Minister intends to make a further announcement in the first quarter of 2009 on major primary and post-primary school projects to proceed to construction.

As the Deputy may be aware, a developing areas unit was set up recently in the Department to focus on the school accommodation needs of rapidly developing areas. The main emphasis in 2008 and 2009 is on providing sufficient school places in these developing areas, in addition to delivering improvements in the quality of existing primary and post-primary school accommodation throughout the country. Ballygarvan national school is a co-educational school catering for boys and girls from junior infants to sixth class. Enrolments in the school have risen steadily from 140 pupils in 2000 to an expected enrolment for 2008 of 251 pupils. The staffing at the school reflects this enrolment.

The school's board of management submitted an application to the Department of Education and Science for a new school building. The existing school site is very restricted and, on its own, is not a viable site for the proposed project. The Deputy will be aware that a suitable site has been identified. This site comprises three plots of land belonging to three separate owners. It was originally intended that the Department would acquire the three plots of land. Negotiations, while difficult at times, were progressing on that basis. Earlier this year the school's patron indicated that he was willing to acquire the plots of land directly to advance the project and overcome difficulties experienced.

The Department of Education and Science has been in contact with key stakeholders with a view to exploring the options open to advancing both the acquisition of the plots of land and the proposed building project. These discussions are ongoing.

Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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They have been ongoing for ten years.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to address the House on this school.