Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I have raised this issue to seek clarification on the current position regarding the acquisition of a site to facilitate the amalgamation of the Cahir boys national school and Our Lady of Mercy national school in Cahir, County Tipperary. I wish to know whether the site can be acquired by the State from the Mercy Order under the redress scheme. These are two major schools in Cahir town which is the fastest growing district electoral division in south Tipperary according to the previous census. The boys school caters for 180 boys and the girls for 298 girls, including junior and senior infants. The staff, boards of management and school community provide an excellent service to local families despite that they operate in facilities which are inadequate, inappropriate and not fit for purpose.

The boys school, established in 1964, pays €40,000 a year for rented portakabins while the girls school pays more than €20,000. The Sisters of Mercy some time ago provided figures which indicated the amount of interest paid over the past 20 years alone would have paid for the site. The need for the amalgamation of the schools has been long acknowledged and has been agreed locally by both school communities. The adjacent site, which is between both schools and is in the ownership of the Sisters of Mercy, is the only site which is suitable and amenable to both schools.

The acquisition of this land is an urgent matter and I hope the subject can be progressed. It must be progressed. I have been dealing with this issue since 2007 and before as a member of the county council. I met the former Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Hanafin, in Thurles with a deputation. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, visited the school when he was Minister for Education and Skills, saw it at first hand and gave some hope. There was a blockage at departmental level with officials which was very unfair to the Sisters of Mercy. The officials insisted they were not engaging in negotiations. The head bursar, whom I complimented, gave me correspondence which she sent on two occasions to the Department, but it got lost somewhere in the bowels of the organisation. She was willing to sell the site and facilitate the need for the school.

Land prices have decreased since then. I have asked previous Minister and the current one whether the site could be included in the redress scheme which has been agreed by the Sisters of Mercy and the Government. The site must be acquired in order that we can give some hope to the teachers and pupils in the school and the wider community that a proper, modern and decent building in which to educate the young children of Cahir and the surrounding areas every day will be built.

The situation is wholly inadequate. I thank the Department officials who having engaged with me, previous Ministers and the current one but action is now needed because the situation is perilous. If the site is acquired, the planning and design process will have to be started and the many other stages will have to be gone through. The site between the two schools is lying idle and is in the ownership of the Sisters of Mercy who are willing to sell it at a reasonable rate with independent valuations or whatever. Correspondence sent to me from the Department indicated the order was not willing to sell or was not engaging, which is an injustice. The information was misleading and very unfair to the Sisters of Mercy who have given tremendous service to the town and community of Cahir in education and many other areas over the past century.

It is time this was brought to a head and meaningful negotiations took place. Whatever officials are needed should visit the area and try to do the deal. It was recently suggested that moneys have been returned to the Department of Finance from the Department of Education and Skills. Cases like this are held up by bureaucracy. It is unfair, unacceptable and must be dealt with.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am happy to reply on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan, who, unfortunately, cannot be present. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and to outline the current position of the proposed amalgamation of Cahir boys national school and Our Lady of Mercy national school.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth is a significant challenge. 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 Department's planning and building unit assesses all applications for capital funding. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, 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.

The staffing level of Cahir boys national school comprises a principal, seven mainstream assistants, two permanent learning support teachers, one release time post and two temporary language support posts. It had an enrolment of 180 pupils in September 2009. Our Lady of Mercy national school has a current staffing level of a principal, 11 mainstream assistants, one permanent shared resource teacher for Travellers, one permanent resource teacher, two learning support-resource and two temporary language support teachers. It had an enrolment of 298 pupils in September 2009. In 2004, agreement was reached to amalgamate the two primary schools in Cahir. The application was assessed and the project was assigned a band rating of 1.4. The long-term projected staffing for the proposed amalgamated school was determined as an administrative principal, 24 mainstream assistants and four learning support-resource teachers. A special needs unit will also be provided as part of the accommodation.

A technical inspection was carried out in 2006 on the existing school buildings to determine which would be suitable to act as a host for the amalgamated school. The report concluded the most suitable building to facilitate the amalgamation would be the girls' school due to its relatively large floor area, good condition of the general building fabric, reasonable development potential and relatively good access to a public roadway. The report also recommended an additional portion of land be acquired from the Sisters of Mercy to the north east of Our Lady of Mercy national school to facilitate the development. The Department has received an offer of lands from the Sisters of Mercy under the residential institutions redress compensation scheme. The Department is considering this offer in the context of the religious order's response to the Government request for an increase in its contribution under the redress scheme.

On conclusion of the acquisition of the site, the progression of this building project required to facilitate the amalgamation from initial design stage through to construction is dependent on the prioritisation of competing demands on the funding available under the Department's capital budget. The amalgamated school building project for the primary schools in Cahir, County Tipperary, will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme. I thank the Deputy again for giving me the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the current position regarding the school building project for the primary schools in Cahir, County Tipperary.