Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for accepting this item for discussion this afternoon and I appreciate the attendance of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, to respond to it.

I sought this debate due to the urgency of the issue. The principal and secretary of the board of management of St. Mary's boys national school in Belturbet, Mr. Padraig Martin, has appealed the decision of the Department to turn down the summer works scheme 2011 application submitted by the school. In the appeal Mr. Martin clearly outlines that the application met with the criteria of the scheme. The application is for the provision of appropriate toilet facilities.

Section 2 of the summer works scheme 2011 states that an application for toilet facilities is allowable. In addition, the proposed project is of an urgent and priority nature, which is covered by section 1 of the scheme. It is clear from the school's correspondence to the Department that the overcrowded and generally unsuitable condition of the current facilities is a cause of concern to the staff, the board of management and the parents on health and safety grounds. It also causes disruption to routine school day activities.

It has been pointed out to the Department that the parents of special needs pupils have, understandably, conveyed to the board of management and the staff their unhappiness and concern about the lack of toilet facilities for the disabled. This necessitates children with special needs being attended to by female special needs assistants in conditions that are not near satisfactory. There are 76 pupils in St. Mary's boys national school, nine of whom have a diagnosis of a physical, sensory or emotional behavioural nature. Four of these children require the assistance of a special needs assistant for toilet and self-care issues. Occasionally, a child might need to have clothing changed. Proper facilities would enable the needs of children to be cared for in a manner that protects the child's dignity and privacy.

The senior paediatric occupational therapist in the HSE in the Cavan area has clearly stated, in supporting correspondence submitted with the appeal, that there is an urgent need to have proper and modern toilet facilities provided at the school. In addition, local health nurses have outlined their concerns about the current situation. Those nurses are very familiar with the requirements of the pupils in the school, particularly the children with special needs.

The comprehensive appeal submitted to the Department contained the reasoned and considered views of the board of management, the principal and staff, the parent body and local health professionals. I appeal to the Minister to have this appeal designated as a priority in his Department for finalisation and approval at an early date.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. St. Mary's boys national school, Belturbet, County Cavan, applied to the Department of Education and Skills under the 2011 summer works scheme to construct a new flat roof extension to contain four additional toilets and a new disabled toilet of solid block construction with asphalt concrete roof. The school has a staffing level of three teachers and an enrolment of 76 pupils.

The summer works scheme, SWS, covers projects in school buildings such as gas, electrical and mechanical works, roof replacements and repairs, window replacement, toilet upgrades, access works and structural improvements that, ideally, can be delivered during the summer months. Due to the scale of demand for funding under the 2011 summer works scheme, it was not possible to grant aid all applications. As outlined in the circular governing the operation of the scheme, applications for works in the higher categories of eligible works, that is, gas, electrical and mechanical works, were prioritised for funding. It simply was not possible to include St. Mary's boys national school in the list of 453 successful schools that benefited from the €41.2 million that was available under the scheme. A letter to this effect issued to the school on 12 April 2011.

As part of the Government's jobs initiative, €40 million in funding was made available for building works in an additional 374 schools, details of which were announced in May 2011. These funds allowed school projects such as for special needs access, improvement works to toilet facilities, roof works and window replacements, submitted under the 2011 summer works scheme to be considered further. In other words, we used the original list of applications to award an additional 374 schools with an additional sum of €40 million.

The application from St. Mary's boys school for toilet facilities was considered under the jobs initiative. The technicality was that it involved the construction of a new building and this disqualified it. The summer works scheme and the jobs initiative applied to improvements, repairs or additions to existing structures. I am prepared to look at the appeal that has been received and hope to get a response to the Deputy as quickly as possible.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Minister's concerns about this application. This school has a higher than usual number of children with special needs so those concerns exist for all of us. I am aware from my constituency and elsewhere that the summer works scheme has been exceptionally successful.

However, there is a contradiction in the terms of the scheme. Section 2 states that an application for toilet facilities is allowable and section 1 refers to a project of an urgent and priority nature. Being familiar with public administration, I believe that within a scheme there is scope to cater for exceptional circumstances and this project is deemed urgent and a priority by the school staff, the principal, the board of management, the parent body and the local health professionals. The community in Belturbet would not urgently seek an investment unless it was necessary. A small investment would bring great benefit to the school-going population and the staff of St. Mary's boys national school. I hope the Minister will request that his officials finalise the application.

Many parents called my office about this and I called them back over the weekend. They are very concerned about the inadequacy of the poor toilet facilities. The number of special needs children in the school at present gives extra urgency to the case. Everybody involved with the school is anxious that the Minister consult directly with his officials on this issue, if possible, and that there be a successful outcome. A relatively small amount of investment will bring great benefits to so many children.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I share the Deputy's concern in this matter. I will take a personal interest in the appeal process.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister.