Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter. On behalf of the teachers, parents and pupils, I would like to express my deep frustration this evening at the lack of progress in advancing the Scoil Eoin school project at Balloonagh, Tralee. I would like to make an appeal directly to the Minister and the Department to honour their commitment of 24 April 2007, when it was announced that Scoil Eoin was one of the 56 large-scale projects approved to advance to the next stage. This announcement was made in the run-up to the general election of May 2007 and would now appear to have been made as a vote-winning exercise.

Approximately 48% of the pupils of Scoil Eoin are housed in prefabricated buildings, which include 11 classrooms and one special education room. Some 27% of the pupils are in a building over 100 years old, which has not been modernised and has cramped conditions. Mechanical and electrical services in Scoil Eoin fall short of the requirements of current electrical regulations. No mainstream classroom or special education classroom in the school meets the current Department of Education and Science planning guidelines for primary schools. The energy rating of the school does not reach the minimum standard, there are no parking or set-down facilities and buildings do not comply with fire regulations and health and safety standards.

Other challenges for the school include a lack of hot water and information technology problems, due to dampness and humidity in the buildings. The teachers of new Irish students and special education pupils must collect their pupils from different buildings and return them to the classrooms. Valuable teaching time is wasted in transit since 20% of tuition time is spent walking. There is also a risk to children's safety as they travel between buildings and to teachers' safety due to access to classrooms, because there is no holding area.

Attempts to provide a replacement school at Scoil Eoin go back almost ten years to July 1999, when the Department of Education and Science sent a team of architects to compile a report on the condition of the building. In January 2002 a feasibility study was completed providing three options for Scoil Eoin. On 21 November 2006 a technical team from the Department of Education and Science, comprising of Paul Egan, John Harnett and Shirley Kearney, visited Scoil Eoin. Following this visit and a subsequent commission on school accommodation report, which strongly recommended a new school building for Scoil Eoin, the management board was confident that progress was being made.

The announcement of 24 April raised hopes further and in May 2007 the Department recommended that, as a result of long-term projected staffing, the new school would comprise 24 mainstream classrooms, two special classes and appropriate special education rooms, offices, general purpose rooms and staff rooms. However, the process stopped here. A design team should have been appointed in June 2007 but the project has never left the architectural planning stage.

In February 2008, the principal and members of the board of management met the then Minister, Deputy Mary Hanafin, at Kerry Airport. She informed them that she recognised "the school is high priority". She said they should not be concerned that they had not yet moved to the design stage and that the list of schools to be progressed to design stage had not yet been issued for that year.

In its current situation, the school is in no man's land as it cannot access any grants, summer works or otherwise, to resurface damaged playgrounds or engage in emergency works while being approved for a new building. There are numerous potential risks to the safety of pupils, staff and parents in the school's current circumstances. Due to the long-term problems that the school continues to face and the failure of the Department of Education and Science and various Ministers to keep their word, Scoil Eoin is struggling to operate in an almost impossible situation.

I take this opportunity to recognise the commitment and dedication of the principal and staff at the school. Scoil Eoin is recognised in Tralee and beyond for the quality of its teachers, pupils and wide curriculum. To keep pace with modern trends in education it urgently needs the rebuilding and refurbishment of the current premises.

There seems to be a particular problem in Tralee with school accommodation. New school buildings were promised for Blennerville, Listellig and Tralee's Educate Together school. These examples represent three major problems to be added to that facing Scoil Eoin. If the Minister of State cannot give a positive response this evening I appeal to him to at least pass my words on to the Minister and the Department so that the next stage, appointment of a design team, can be reached.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to this House the Department's plans for the proposed building project for Scoil Eoin national school, Tralee, County Kerry. Scoil Eoin national school is a coeducational facility at junior level and a single sex girls school at senior level. It has a current enrolment of 567 pupils. The staffing level is a principal, 21 mainstream assistants, one permanent special class teacher, one temporary special class teacher, three temporary language support teachers, four permanent learning support-resource teachers and one temporary resource teacher for Travellers.

The school authority has applied to the Department of Education and Science for large scale capital funding for an extension project. It is the Department's intention to provide the school with permanent accommodation for a principal, 24 mainstream assistants and ancillary accommodation appropriate to a school of this size. As the Deputy is aware, the project is awaiting the appointment of a design team.

The Deputy will also probably be aware that all applications for large scale capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department against published prioritisation criteria which were formulated following consultation with the education partners. Under these criteria, each application is assigned a band rating which reflects the type of works needed and the urgency attaching to them. Projects are advanced through the school building and modernisation programme in accordance with the band rating assigned to them. There are four band ratings in all under the criteria with band 1 being the highest and band 4 the lowest. Each band rating has a number of sub-categories which more specifically describe the type of works needed and, again, the urgency attaching to them.

The building project for Scoil Eoin attracts a band 2.1 rating which reflects the fact that a significant extension and refurbishment project is needed. Unfortunately, due to the level of demand on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible to provide an indicative timeframe as to when the design team appointment for this project can be made. However, a band 2 rated project has the second highest band rating possible, which means that the project is well positioned to proceed once the funding is available to allow the design team appointment. As with all large scale capital projects, the progression of the project from the appointment of the design team and initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered in the context of the Department's multiannual school building and modernisation programme.

The allocation for school buildings in 2009 is €581 million, which represents a significant investment in the school building and modernisation programme. This level of funding, at a time of great pressure on the public finances, is a sign of the Government's very real commitment to investing in school infrastructure and it will permit the continuation of the enormous progress made under the last national development plan when 7,800 school building projects were completed. The Government looks forward to building on this progress with an unprecedented allocation of €4.5 billion under the current national development plan. The Department of Education and Science will consider the advancement of the project for Scoil Eoin from initial design stage through to construction phase in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme on this basis.

I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter and assure him that progress on the proposed project for Scoil Eoin will be made commensurate with the priority attaching to it and as soon as the requisite funding is available. I will take on board his comments in the House and convey them to the Minister and the Department.