Dáil debates

Thursday, 12 March 2009

Adjournment Debate

School Accommodation.

5:00 pm

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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A Cheann Comhairle, I am pleased that you are presiding over this debate, because I may have to call on you for clarification before I am finished. I have been raising this issue for many years. I came across a parliamentary question only this morning that I tabled on 21 February 2001, when the then Minister for Education and Science stated that it was his intention to make a decision on how to address the future primary and post-primary requirements at Portlaoise "as early as possible". There has been much water under many bridges since then.

In June 2008, I secured a special Adjournment debate on the matter. I informed the Minister that the school accommodation issue in Portlaoise had become a fiasco. I told him that Scoil Bhríd in Knockmay was beginning to resemble a prefab shanty town. The parents of almost 100 children had informed me that they had no school place for their children the following September. I asked the Minister to visit Portlaoise with his officials and see the crisis for themselves. That did not happen. The Minister stated that approval in principle had been given for three large-scale primary building projects in Portlaoise, which will improve conditions for the schools concerned and provide much needed extra school places.

I am not sure if the Minister of State was watching "Prime Time" earlier this week. If he was, he would have been embarrassed to see himself parroting the exact same statement that his senior Minister had given me some months prior to that. I am tired of this set piece, word-processed answer from officials, who hand them on to Ministers who then come in here to parrot out the same drivel about Portlaoise. It does not address the problem and it does not realise the extent of the difficulties.

There are three school projects to be undertaken as a matter of urgency. The Minister told me that progress on these proposed works is being considered on an ongoing basis. A parliamentary question in my name on 4 March 2009 revealed that the Minister has no idea how many prefabs are on site in Laois schools. In fact, he misled the House. Rath national school is listed as having one prefab, but it has three. The Heath national school is listed as having three prefabs, but it has five. Scoil Bhríd in Knockmay, Portlaoise was listed as having seven prefabs, but it has 24, nine of which are rented. If parliamentary questions are going to be treated in such a cavalier manner by the Department of Education and Science, then this House is in need of reform. Ministers can come in here and not give a damn about the nature of their replies to lawfully elected Deputies.

The reply last week stated that the average cost of renting the 58 prefabs in Laois of which the Department is aware works out at €13,835 per prefab per year, which totals €802,000. However, this is wrong because the cost of renting prefabs in Rath national school is €15,600 per prefab per year. I got a response from the Minister stating "now that the accommodation requirements of the town at post-primary level are well on their way to being addressed, it is proposed to deal with the primary school requirements". I have no doubt I will get the same line tonight. This line was contained in official replies on 12 February and 4 June 2008.

In the school at Knockmay, 75% of the 600 pupils are in prefabs. The nine rented prefabs are costing €125,000 per annum, or €10,000 per month. Rath national school has doubled in size since 2000, and one child in three is being taught in a prefab. In order to address the issue, the parish priest of Portlaoise put forward an imaginative and innovative proposal that was shot down by the Department. The parish agreed to take out a bank loan to finance the new schools and allow the Government repay the loan over a period of 15 years, but that was turned down by the Department.

Deputies in this House cannot even get accurate replies from the Minister for Education and Science on the numbers and cost of prefabs and the number of children being taught in prefabs. This is a town that has experienced rapid growth in the years of the Celtic tiger, yet no school provision has been made for these children. It was a fiasco a year ago, but it is now a very grave problem. I hope that the Minister of State will address this issue and not give me the same response that he and his predecessors have been giving me in this House since February 2001. Nobody in the Department is in control.

I wish to discuss with the Ceann Comhairle how the record is to be set straight and how the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, can give information to the House which is highly inaccurate, wholly unsatisfactory and at variance with the facts.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has dismissed my response before I have given it. However, I am entitled to give a reply.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Of course.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Like Deputy Flanagan, I have been a Member of the House for a long time and I am unsure if the Adjournment debate is the best forum for advancing such issues.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I asked the Minister to come down and he did not.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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In any event, I will take the Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the current position for County Laois.

The allocation of funding for school buildings in 2009 is in excess of €650 million. This represents a significant investment in the schools building and modernisation programme. 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.

At primary level in County Laois, work is progressing on-site to provide a new eight classroom school in Emo. Another project in Borris-in-Ossary to provide a new eight-classroom school has gone to tender. For Portlaoise, enrolments in the six primary schools in the area have increased from 1,474 in 1999 and 2000 to 2,044 this year, a 38% increase in a relatively short period of time. The Department has identified the town as a rapidly developing area, which attracts the highest priority in the allocation of capital funding. In addressing the impending needs of Portlaoise, the Department met with the principals of the primary schools concerned on a number of occasions and proposed the construction of an eight-classroom school, located on a site owned by County Laois VEC, Vocational Education Committee, to cater for the increased enrolments. The schools refused to move into this state-of-the-art facility and subsequently the building was occupied by Gaelscoil Portlaoise which had been renting temporary accommodation.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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That is a complete cop out.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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In the interim, sufficient temporary accommodation was provided, at the request of the schools, on the convent site to meet the needs of Portlaoise for the 2008 to 2009 and the 2009 to 2010 school years.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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More shanty.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is proposed to build two further schools on a greenfield site to facilitate the amalgamation of Scoil Naisiunta an Chroi Naofa, St. Paul's Primary School and Scoil Naisiunta Mhuire. The new facilities will be configured as a junior and senior school and will cater for some 1,600 pupils. The parish proposes acquiring the site for these new permanent schools. However, this site is currently not accessible or serviced. The Department has serious concerns regarding the landlocked site and has sought clarification from the patron on a number of issues, by letter dated 13 February. The Department is awaiting a reply.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Department would have to be satisfied, especially in the current climate, that it would not be exposed to frontloading services such as roads, water, drainage, electricity, etc., at great cost to the State for a private development, to facilitate construction of the school.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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That is a complete red herring.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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For 2009, the Department is satisfied that the temporary accommodation provided last year is sufficient to meet the needs this year. However, the Department is working closely with the patron and monitoring the situation. Further temporary accommodation will be made available should it prove to be necessary.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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More shanty.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Furthermore, on 12 February this year, the Minister announced 25 projects which were to enter into architectural design. This announcement included a major capital project for the extension of Scoil Bride, Knockmay, to create a 32-classroom school catering for 800 pupils.

Apart from provision at primary level, significant investment has been made in provision at post-primary level. The Department has recently delivered Portlaoise college, a new VEC school catering for 700 pupils. It is situated on a 20 acre site and has 50 classrooms including science laboratories, four computer rooms, a home economics room and a music and drama room. A new community school for Mountrath is currently in construction. This new school will provide places for 650 pupils and it is envisaged that it will be ready for occupation by September 2009. Two other post-primary school building projects are due to go on site this year and are being delivered by way of public private partnerships. Both of these schools will cater for 850 pupils each.

The Deputy will understand that it is not possible to progress all projects at the same time. However, I assure him that the Minister is committed to continuing to invest in school accommodation in County Laois. I am confident that the measures outlined will assist in alleviating the immediate demand for pupil places in the area and I thank the Deputy for allowing me the opportunity to outline the Department's position on school provision in the Laois area.

Photo of Charlie O'ConnorCharlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I sincerely thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue. I am pleased the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Seán Haughey, is in the Chamber and I note the point he made concerning the frailties of the Adjournment debate processes. However, I raise this issue today with great desperation. I have come to the House on other occasions to raise serious issues concerning schools building programmes. Only two weeks ago, the Ceann Comhairle allowed me to raise an issue with regard to the building programme of the Holy Rosary national school in Ballycragh. This is a completely different situation. This concerns a job, granted to the community, but which has not been satisfactorily completed. I realise the Minister of State has come to the House with a prepared response, which is fair enough. However, I express to him my complete frustration as far as this issue is concerned.

Ard Mhuire national school in Belgard, Tallaght, was opened in 1977 by the then Minister for Education, Mr. John Wilson. It has provided an excellent educational service to the local community in my parish over the years. Currently, it has an enrolment of 298 pupils under a very progressive principal, Mr. Pat Keogh, and an excellent board. We have been able to deliver real progress for the school in recent times.

Time has moved on since the school opened and the school building has aged. Some €1 million was spent on a new roof, which was a tremendous project. The current project, which is the subject of my matter today, cost €3.2 million. That represents excellent progress for my local school and I welcome it. However, the project has not worked. It was to redesign the school, providing it with a modern upgrade and catering for a new intake. The main construction company was Midland Construction.

I raised this issue with the Department several times last Autumn. In October last year, the Department, at the level of assistant secretary, acknowledged there were difficulties between the school and the contractor. At that stage, the Department pointed out that while the school board was refusing to pay moneys to the contractor on foot of certificates issues by the consulting architects, because it believed that there was a breach of contract, it impressed upon the school board the need to honour the contract. I believe the school has acted in good faith. It came to an agreement through negotiation in November following a meeting with the senior architect and other parties. An agreed list was to be implemented, including the insulation in the ceilings, shelving in the library, a sink unit in the remedial room in block C, the repair of noticeboards, concrete steps to the boiler house, double-flush unit toilets, the lowering of the hatch to the entrance, blinds and several other issues on a very extensive snag list.

I understand the board held an emergency meeting this week and is very unhappy, angered and frustrated with the current situation. The board is now informing the local Deputies for the area, on behalf of whom I represent the matter today, that it wishes the work to be completed to the satisfaction of the school community. It demands this work is done now by a new contractor. There is no question that we should be supportive of the board of Ard Mhuire School to ensure that all essential works are now completed, taking into account health and safety considerations. I call on the Minister to ensure this takes place. The Minister will probably inform me that departmental officials are working with the school authorities. While I do not deny this is the case, completion of this project could be a good news story in a parish in my constituency. However, the board of the school has been messed about and does not know where to turn. I appeal to the Minister of State to bring this matter to the attention of his senior colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. The Minister should assign to a senior official the task of finding out the reason the response to the school, which has acted properly, has not been satisfactory.

I am depending on the Minister of State to take an interest in this important issue. State money has been expended on this matter. The Scoil Ard Mhuire community was pleased with the many announcements made on its building project but now requires effective action.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science. Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank Deputy O'Connor for raising this matter as it gives me an opportunity of outlining to the House the Department's position regarding the building project for Scoil Ard Mhuire, Belgard, Tallaght.

As part of the multi-annual school building programme, the Government has invested heavily in the modernisation of school facilities throughout the country in recent years. More than €2.6 billion was provided for school building infrastructure between 2000 and 2006 under the last national development plan and a further €4.5 billion is being invested under the current National Development Plan 2007-2013, of which €653 million is being provided this year alone.

In the period from 2002 to date, in the region of 650 large-scale building projects at primary and post-primary schools were given approval to proceed to tender and construction. Close to 500 of these projects have reached practical completion. In addition to the large-scale projects thousands of smaller projects were funded in this period under programmes such as the small schools scheme, permanent accommodation scheme and summer works scheme.

In view of the large amount of activity under the school building and modernisation programme, it was prudent to improve efficiency and ensure value for money. In this regard a number of innovations have been introduced in recent years, such as fixed price contracts, delivery of small-scale projects on a devolved basis, the development of generic repeat design buildings and the use of design and build contracts to deliver very large schools building projects. With regard to major projects the Department's role is concentrated in setting the initial design parameters. Initial designs are evaluated at meetings rather than through correspondence to speed up the design phase.

The Deputy will be aware that there has been a substantial increase in the demand for additional accommodation in existing schools and for the provision of complete new school buildings in developing areas in recent years. This results from a rapidly increasing school population and the appointment of 6,000 extra teachers in the primary sector alone since 2002. At the same time, the Department has been significantly improving and modernising the condition of existing school buildings to ensure the highest standard of permanent accommodation for all schools. It was in this context that funding for the upgrading of the Scoil Ard Mhuire school building was approved.

As the Deputy will be aware, in recent years the Department has introduced a number of devolved grant schemes. A key principle behind the devolution of these schemes is that responsibility for the management of the project is devolved to the school authority. The school authority can then make use of its local knowledge and presence on the ground to manage the project more effectively and ensure better value for money for the taxpayer.

The Department funds the work on receipt of the necessary certification from the school's architect that the work has been completed to a satisfactory standard. However, the contract for the works in such cases is between the school authorities and the builder. In the case of Scoil Ard Mhuire, the Department became aware of some difficulties with the project when it was nearing completion. Since then, officials from the Department have met the school management and have been in ongoing contact with the parties with the express aim of having the project completed satisfactorily and at best value to the taxpayer. Department officials will continue to work with the school authority with a view to ensuring a satisfactory outcome to the current situation and the completion of the project.

I thank the Deputy again for giving me the opportunity of outlining the current position to the House and assure him of the Minister's commitment to seeing the satisfactory conclusion of this project in a way that provides value for money for the taxpayer. I note the contents of the Deputy's contribution and will ensure the issues he has articulated will be brought to the attention of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe.