Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Tá an-díomá orm nach bhfuil an tAire féin sa Teach anocht agus go bhfuil an nós tosaithe cheana féin ag an Rialtas seo gan na hAirí sinseareacha a bheith i láthair. I am disappointed that the Minister is not present. I always considered it regrettable when senior Ministers did not attend Adjournment debates and when I was a Minister, I always tried to attend when at all possible.

In a growing community Scoil Chaitríona is situated on a potentially excellent school site. Built in 1974 when Government finances were stretched and the conservation of energy dictated the height of classroom ceilings, Scoil Chaitríona has exceeded the expected life span of such schools by 17 years. The school population has more than doubled and prefabs have become a permanent feature of the school owing to lack of space. Resource and learning support teachers are forced to use cubby holes and cordoned off sections of corridors and classrooms to teach children with special needs. These children require space, light and a stimulating environment to cope with and overcome their special needs.

The main building of Scoil Chaitríona is falling to pieces and requires constant repairs and expansion. Owing to dampness, one of the ceilings fell in onto the class floor last year and a patch-up job was done on the roof under the summer works scheme. This year the school has applied for new doors and windows to be fitted and this will prove to be an extensive and expensive project because the roof is part of the window fixture. The roof could fall down in the process. The school is also making an application for floors to be redone throughout the building owing to wear and tear and asbestos exposure. Again, it has been faced with no alternative but to patch tile by tile as the tiles became undone. This can no longer be carried out because of the asbestos under the tiles.

A new school building project would be the best option for the Department of Education and Skills and the Renmore community. Scoil Chaitríona has been described by the Department's inspectors as a special school within a school. They have put great emphasis on this in the school's evaluation. To retain and improve the services the school offers to special needs children it must accommodate them in a suitable building. This forms a big part of its building plans, even down to the details of a shared sensory room.

Scoil Chaitríona is currently enrolling children with autism for September. As there is no accommodation available for an ASD unit, the school will be making an application for a prefabricated building comprising one classroom and one sensory room. This will be an added expense on the Department's funds when such a unit is included in the plans for a new building. Scoil Chaitríona is listed as being in Band 1:2, the provision of specialist accommodation urgently required for children with special needs such as autism, speech and language impairment, intellectual impairment and so forth.

The annual cost of the summer works scheme in 2010 was €316,000, with rental of prefabs costing €70,000. In 2011 the necessary works under the summer works scheme will cost €668,000, with the rental of prefabs costing €70,000. Speaking in Galway at the Labour Party annual conference, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, said: "Many of our school buildings are a national disgrace. One hundred and sixty five schools are spending over €50,000 a year renting prefabs. This would cover the mortgage on a permanent school building. Labour will change all that with a transparent building programme and replacing temporary prefabs." I hope the Minister will now honour his commitment, given when he was in opposition, and outline a clear road map for the provision of a new school for Scoil Chaitríona in Renmore.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am replying to this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in school building projects and also to outline the current position on the building project to provide improved accommodation at Scoil Chaitríona junior and senior schools at Renmore, Galway.

The Government, in its programme for Government, is committed to drawing up a new national development plan that reflects Ireland's changed economic circumstances, covering the seven-year period 2012-19. The plan will be based on a comprehensive study of Ireland's public investment priorities in that period. In the initial years, when resources will be most heavily constrained, the programme for Government commits to prioritising investment in a number of specific areas, including school buildings. The Government will insist that major capital projects are subjected to proper cost-benefit analysis and evaluation, improving future productivity and growth prospects, and that the value for money obtained is significantly enhanced compared to the most recent period. Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well responding to the emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth will continue to be a significant challenge.

All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. 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 and so forth, leading 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 schools building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need which is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band one is the highest and band four the lowest. Band one projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exists but there is a high demand for pupil places, while a band four project makes provision for desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities, such as a library or new sports hall.

The project to provide new accommodation for Scoil Caitríona junior and senior schools has been assigned a band rating of 1.2 under the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. The project commenced with a brief to provide an extension and refurbishment of the existing accommodation for both schools. The schools both occupy a restricted site in Renmore. A review of the initial brief took place in 2006 at which time it was decided it should be revised to provide for two new schools on the existing site.

Due to the significant expansion of the brief, it was deemed necessary to terminate the appointment of the existing design team and commence the process of appointing a new design team using the Official Journal of the European Union tender process. This tender process commenced in May 2007. However, due to competing priorities on the Department's resources and the emerging need to concentrate on the provision of new schools in rapidly developing areas, this process was not completed. The project was not included in the school building work programme for 2011 published earlier this year by my predecessor.

The progression of all large-scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase will continue to be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual schools building and modernisation programme for 2011 and subsequent years. However, in light of competing demands on the capital budget of the Department it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of this project to completion of tender and construction. I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the current position regarding the school building project for Scoil Caitríona junior and senior schools in Renmore, Galway.