Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I am sorry the Minister for Education and Skills is not here because I want to call him to account for a gross breach of promise and remind him of his responsibility to the people of Castleknock. It came as a body blow to the parents, staff and students of Castleknock community college when they saw an answer to a parliamentary question from the Minister towards the end of last year saying that desperately needed extra classrooms and a sports hall were not included in the five-year construction programme announced by the Department of Education and Skills last year.

These extra classrooms are long overdue and critical at this stage. Castleknock community college was built in 1995 after it must be said much lobbying and pain from the local community. It was built initially for 400 students but inevitably, as those of us who supported the community and parents at the time predicted, the burgeoning population of young people meant that there was significant pressure for expansion and there are now 1,135 students. Unfortunately and incredibly in this day and age, many of these students are in prefabricated buildings that have gone from being a temporary solution to a long-term fixture. This is a deplorable state of affairs. A mother of a current student wrote to me emphasising the critical need for the new classrooms and pointing out that students are learning in cold and damp prefabs which have outgrown the age they were supposed to last. She also pointed out the necessity for building a sports hall because with the confined space in the area, children are denied the full scope of physical activities.

Castleknock community college has wonderful and dedicated staff and a wonderful complement of students with very committed parents behind them. They are generally low and middle-income earners and many of them have been badly hit by the economic crisis and the disastrous austerity policies of this Government and the previous one. If this Government did not proceed with the much needed facility students and parents were promised, it would be a very low blow.

Two Government Ministers represent this area along with myself. While in opposition, the Minister for Social Protection frequently raised the decibel level quite high when there were intolerable delays in educational investment. The Minister is very quiet on this issue. In 2011, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport welcomed the granting of planning permission for the new addition to Castleknock community college and then said in a communiqué to his constituents that he hoped work would begin in 2012. He indicated that he would be contacting the Minister for Education and Skills to highlight the importance of advancing a project as important as this.

I want an answer from the Minister of State and the Department, namely, a date in the near future when the building of the extra classrooms and sports hall will commence as was solemnly promised to the people and students of Castleknock community college. Nothing less than that is acceptable.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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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 school building projects over the next four years and to clarify the current position in respect of the proposed building project for Castleknock community college. The five-year construction programme announced in March 2012 identifies the school building projects which are to progress to tender and construction over that time period. There were some school building projects already in architectural planning which were not included in the five-year programme and which may require major refurbishment or the replacement of temporary accommodation. The project for Castleknock community college is one such project. These projects will continue to be progressed to the point where they will be tender-ready but may then need to be deferred for progression to tender and construction at a future date.

The project for Castleknock community college entails construction of a two-storey extension with a total floor area of 2,005 square metres and will include a new sports hall with balcony and changing rooms, ten new classrooms to replace existing temporary accommodation, some ancillary accommodation and a covered link to the existing school building.

The project for Castleknock community college entails construction of a two-storey extension with a total floor area of 2005 m2 and will include a new sports hall with a balcony and changing rooms, ten new classrooms to replace existing temporary accommodation, some ancillary accommodation and a covered link to the existing school building. The new development includes the demolition and removal of two temporary accommodation blocks and the provision of 26 new car spaces and associated external works including landscaping. The project, once complete, will not significantly affect the overall student intake capacity of the school, which has remained stable at just over 1,100 students per annum for the past ten years.

Following consideration of a number of stage 2(b) submissions, the building unit of my Department convened a meeting with the VEC and its design team on 29 May 2012 in order to deal with outstanding design and cost issues. A third revised stage 2(b) submission was received in my Department in December 2012. Further clarification has been sought from the VEC on this stage 2(b) submission and the Department is currently awaiting a response. Following the liquidation of the civil and structural engineering company on the design team, a tender for a replacement consultant is required. The VEC has been authorised to commence this process. Due to competing demands on my Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements, it was not possible to include this project in the five-year construction programme announced in March 2012.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Unfortunately, there is cold comfort here for the students of Castleknock community college and their parents, with "cold" being the appropriate word. Many students will continue to be forced to be educated in substandard prefab accommodation. This is not acceptable. The Minister of State's reply outlines what the project entails: ten new classrooms to replace the existing temporary accommodation, which is cold and damp, and a new sports hall with balcony and changing rooms. This underlines how essential and urgent this facility is. Therefore, this is not the end of the story. I will urge the parents and students of Castleknock community college to mobilise themselves to demand that the promises made to them be carried out. There is a moral imperative on the Government to put in the necessary investment for these essential improvements rather than paying off gamblers and speculators. The people of Castleknock and everywhere else have no responsibility for the bad debts they raised. There is a moral imperative because of the educational needs of the school students and their right to be educated in satisfactory accommodation.

I point out to both the Labour Party and Fine Gael the political pitfall that lies ahead for them if they do not carry out the promise that these Ministers, representing those two parties, made to the people. The Labour Party is today reaping a bitter reward for broken promises in its pathetic result in the Meath East by-election. In the case of Dublin West and Castleknock, the people will feel similarly betrayed in regard to this. Fine Gael need not think it would be exempt from the anger of our people.

I advise the people to get mobilised. I will advise them to bring the community together to demand the presence of Ministers, to demand explanations as to why their promises have been broken, and to demand that the promises be reinstated and that this very necessary investment in the classrooms and sports hall at Castleknock community college be expedited and delivered within a very short period of time.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is more than aware of the very significant demographic challenge arising, which my Department has to meet with limited resources. Overall national enrolment figures are expected to grow by 70,000 between 2012 and 2018, with an increase of more than 25,000 students at post-primary level and 45,000 at primary level. Post-primary enrolment is expected to continue to rise until at least 2024. In order to meet the needs of that growing population of school-going children, the Department has to establish new schools as well as extending or replacing a number of existing schools where demographic growth has been identified. Delivery of these new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, must be the main focus of the Department's capital budget for the coming years.

The five-year programme announced in March 2012 will provide more than 100,000 permanent school places, of which more than 80,000 will be new school places. The remainder will involve the replacement of temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation. Due to competing demands on my Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements, it was not possible to include Castleknock community college in the five-year programme announced in March 2012. School building projects, including the project for Castleknock, which have not been scheduled for construction in that five-year programme but which had previously been announced for initial inclusion in the building programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to my Department in future years. The project for Castleknock community college remains available to be considered for progression in that context.