Dáil debates

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Adjournment Debate

Schools Building Projects.

8:00 pm

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I wish to share my time with Deputy Joe Carey.

Photo of Charlie O'ConnorCharlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

9:00 pm

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chair for facilitating me in raising this important issue. I am a regular visitor to Ennis CBS and visited it again last Friday morning with my colleague, Deputy Carey. I commend Brother de Róiste on the work he, his staff and the board of management do in trying to operate under difficult circumstances. The school was built in 1930 and is totally unsuitable for the diversity of students, 570 in all, now attending it. The children must climb old stairs with deep steps and 28.5% of the children must go to prefabs or converted small rooms for resource and support learning. Some 26.1% of the children are taught in prefabs.

Ten years ago, a feasibility study was carried out for the school by the Department on Ennis CBS, Ennis national school and Scoil Chríost Rí in Cloughleigh, which recommended that three new schools should be built in the town of Ennis. Ennis national school was given the green light recently to proceed to architectural stage and I welcome that. Unfortunately, the other two schools have been left out in the cold. I have highlighted the need for a new school building at Ennis CBS national school with the Minister for Education and Science on several occasions, including with the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Mary Hanafin. Unfortunately, I have received the same reply to parliamentary questions, namely, that the Department does not have any timescale for progression of the project.

That is not good enough. I am sick and tired of these old excuses. The teachers, board of management and the parents are frustrated. They have been very patient. Ten years is a long time to put up with the conditions in the school. Last week the Bishop of Killaloe, Bishop Willie Walsh, described the conditions at the school and the other two schools in Ennis as "unacceptable". He is right. While schools like Ennis CBS sit and wait, the Department continues to waste taxpayers' money on renting prefabricated buildings for schools all over County Clare, including Ennis CBS.

It costs €885,590 annually to rent prefabs, an average of €11,210 per prefab. This is disgraceful. Instead of spending money on temporary accommodation the Minister should invest in permanent classrooms which will save taxpayers' money in the long run. Ennis CBS has a site ready to go. Kick-starting the school building programme would be a major boost for the construction sector in County Clare, which is very badly needed. I urge the Minister to give the green light to Ennis CBS national school. He would be doing a favour for the people of Clare, particularly the school children who have to be taught in such poor conditions.

Photo of Joe CareyJoe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Ennis CBS primary school is the standard bearer primary school in Ennis and has provided education for generations of families in County Clare. The school educates 569 pupils and that figure is set to grow to more than 590 students next September. Last Friday Deputy Breen and I visited Ennis CBS and met the principal and representatives of the board of management and parents' council. In an Ireland of 2009 it is indefensible that the Minister for Education and Science has turned a blind eye to the fact that over 40% of the pupils of this school are being educated in a building that dates back to the 1930s. Are we saying the 21st century student should be educated in early 20th century conditions? It is a further scandal that another 30% of the population is being educated in temporary prefabs.

The principal, board of management and parents' association have been very patient. They have worked with Department of Education and Science officials on this project since initial talks dating back a decade to 1998. Understandably that patience has turned to frustration and anger. There is frustration at the delay in progressing the project to the tender and construction phase and anger at the Department's complete failure to treat this school as a priority, given the number of students attending it.

It has been 20 years since the school, built to cater for 400 students, received a major upgrade. It is worth pointing out what that means for staff and students. The staff room has to double up as a part-time resource teaching room. Parts of corridors have been converted into classrooms. Cloakrooms have been converted into extra toilets and resource teaching space. We are discussing an opportunity for the next generation of children. We are discussing children having to cross the playground in all kinds of weather to access toilets. If this were in a developing country we would be discussing it as a human rights issue. That must stop. I invite the Minister to Ennis CBS to see first hand the problems there. It is appalling. This school must go ahead in the very near future.

Photo of Billy KelleherBilly Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am replying to this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I acknowledge the intra-party support for this project, which is very worthy. I thank the two Deputies for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the strategy for capital investment in education projects and the current position on Ennis CBS in particular.

The allocation of funding for school buildings in 2009 is €653 million. This represents a significant investment in the schools building and modernisation programme. This level of funding, at a time of great pressure on public finances, is a sign of the Government's commitment to investing in school infrastructure and will permit the continuation of progress in the overall improvement of school accommodation. Under the recovery plan announced recently by the Taoiseach, an additional €75 million was allocated to the schools building programme for 2009.

Ennis CBS, County Clare has applied to the Department of Education and Science for large scale capital funding for an extension project. In common with all such applications, an assessment of the application was carried out in the Department's planning and building unit. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of existing buildings and site capacity, etc., leading ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners.

Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. A proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it and as they are ready to proceed. There are four band ratings in all, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. Band 1 projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exist but there is a high demand for school places, while a band 4 project makes provision for desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities. Each band rating has a number of sub-categories which more specifically describes the type of works needed and the urgency attaching to them.

Ennis CBS is a fully vertical co-educational primary school with an enrolment of 528 pupils. The staffing level is a principal, 21 mainstream assistants, three learning support-resource teachers, one special class teacher, one resource teacher for Travellers, four temporary language support teachers and one permanent resource teacher. Consistent with the approach which I have already outlined, following an assessment of the school's application for capital funding, the proposed building project has been assigned a band 2.1 rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. The long-term staffing figure, on which accommodation needs will be based, has been determined. It has been agreed that accommodation should be provided to cater for a long-term projected staffing of a principal, 24 mainstream assistants and appropriate ancillary accommodation. The next step for the project is the appointment of a design team.

The Deputies will understand that it is not possible to progress all projects at the same time. However, the Minister for Education and Science would like to give the assurance that he is committed to providing suitable high quality accommodation for Ennis CBS at the earliest possible date. With competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the further progression of this project.

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Is that the Minister's answer?

Photo of Billy KelleherBilly Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, that is the answer. I will convey the Deputies' invitation to visit the school to the Minister for Education and Science and I will also bring the Deputies' views to the Minister's attention.

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I am sure Deputy Dooley has already done that.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 March 2009.