Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to address this issue. If I go over my four minutes, perhaps the Acting Chairman could show me some flexibility?

Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I am limited by Standing Orders as to what I can do.

Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I accept that. During my 15 years as an elected public representative in Lucan, St. Thomas' national school, St. Thomas' junior national school and Scoil Áine Naofa have been promised new buildings to meet demands and address the unacceptable and chronic state of the prefabricated classrooms that currently exist.

The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, knows about this situation, as I have discussed it with him formally and informally.

These two schools have been promised new buildings a number of times, interestingly, just prior to general elections. Once Fianna Fáil was elected, however, their files went to the bottom of the list. The current circumstances cannot continue. The health of children is being put at risk. Parents, teachers and community leaders are joining with me in demanding that at least a remedial response be put in place to address this crisis and to deliver what is required, that being, two new schools for an educational institution that serves and is the most sought after in a community that is among the fastest growing in the country and with the youngest population.

A further major issue that has caused considerable hurt and confusion is the Minister's reported comments last weekend on less teaching of religion in school. These two schools have strong church names. In Lucan, there is a belief that a secular policy has been adopted. Both schools are, for all intents and purposes, multidenominational and multicultural, a fact they celebrate at every opportunity.

The problem is that these buildings are old. The temporary buildings need to be replaced. There is a crisis. I have formally asked the Minister to meet a delegation. I would be happy to organise that meeting. In light of the serious question arising about the criteria being used and given our limited resources and the Department's positive response in seeking to address the many educational and school building needs that remain outstanding due to the legacy that we have inherited, I cannot understand why these schools have not had their needs addressed. With respect, other schools do not have the same obvious needs, including damp, unsatisfactory and unhealthy prefabricated buildings.

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 clarify the position of the application for major capital funding from the St. Thomas' junior and Scoil Áine senior national schools in Lucan. I am somewhat familiar with the issue, as it has been raised with me a number of times by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and other Government colleagues in the area.

St. Thomas' and Scoil Áine are junior and senior primary schools, respectively, catering for both boys and girls operating under the patronage of the Catholic bishop of Dublin. The St. Thomas' junior school has been in operation since 1976, with Scoil Áine opening in 1980. Enrolments at St. Thomas' for the school year 2012-13 amounted to 514 pupils, an increase of 8% over the past five years. Enrolments at Scoil Áine for the same school year amounted to 531 pupils, an increase of 6% over the past five years. Since last September, St. Thomas' has had a principal plus 18 mainstream teaching posts and Scoil Áine has had a principal plus 19 mainstream teaching posts. There is no question but that these are significant learning institutions in a densely populated part of Dublin city.

The brief for the major building project is to provide two 20-classroom schools and appropriate ancillary accommodation, including general purpose rooms. This is to be provided on the current school site. The design team for the project was appointed in March 2012. The project is at an early stage of architectural planning. Stage 1 was approved in May 2013 and the boards of management and their design team were authorised to proceed to complete stage 2A, which involves developing the more detailed design of the schools. The stage 2A report is nearing completion and a date is being finalised between my Department's officials, the boards of management and their design team to hold a stage 2A stakeholders meeting. Thereafter, and assuming no other issues arise, the project will be progressed to stage 2B, which is the final design stage of the architectural planning process and includes statutory applications along with completion of the tender documents.

The Deputy will be aware that 28 additional projects not previously included in the five-year construction programme were authorised to progress to construction under the jobs and investment package announced last July. This was made possible by the allocation of an additional €50 million for my Department's capital programme. All of these projects had secured planning permission and were nearing completion of stage 2B. In other words, they were very close to beginning construction. At the time, it was appropriate that they be included as additional projects. However, the project for St. Thomas' and Scoil Áine was not at a sufficiently advanced stage of architectural planning to be considered for inclusion at the time. The project remains available to be considered for progression in that context should further funding become available.

Regarding temporary accommodation on site, a review of a number of the units at Scoil Áine took place in 2013 and a devolved grant of €200,000 was sanctioned to provide two new classrooms to replace some of the existing temporary units. My Department has no applications on hand for replacement temporary accommodation at either school. However, if there are prefabs in poor condition, it is open to the boards of management to submit applications for replacement accommodation in the interim.

Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Lest I forget to do so at the end, I thank the Minister of State. I must impress on him the need for an urgent meeting. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Quinn, about this matter. I do not know whether he had a chance to speak with the Minister of State beforehand, as he could not attend, but I would be grateful if the Minister of State could confirm whether the Minister has agreed to meet a small delegation from the schools.

The boards of management and authorities at the St. Thomas' and Scoil Áine schools will take no comfort from the fact that the project remains available for consideration for progression should further funding become available. The Minister of State will not be surprised to hear me say that. He provided a history of the project. Despite the fact that the project was not at an advanced stage at a particular point, it had previously gone through the hoops several times. There is frustration all around.

I assure the Government that the significant increase in the number of pupils witnessed during the period set out by the Minister of State would have been far greater had there been the capacity. The boards of management have needed to make difficult choices because of the restrictions on their accommodation.

Although further funding was made available for temporary accommodation, I assure the Minister of State that some of the conditions would need to be seen to be believed. I hope that the Minister will be able to experience them for himself at the appropriate time through the meeting that I have requested, which I hope the Minister of State will now confirm.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The 28 other projects that were included in the stimulus programme last year were either ready to go to construction or close to it. Planning for a substantial development such as this one is a tortuous process and requires significant input from a school's community and the Department's architectural and engineering experts. It is safe to say that the project in question is far along that process. Indeed, it is nearing the end. I assure the community that the process is ongoing and will continue until the project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning and is considered for inclusion in any other stimulus programme that may arise.

If very poor conditions obtain in some of the prefabs, it is open to the boards of management to make an application for replacement temporary accommodation. Following a policy in the programme for Government, we have replaced almost 45% of prefabs across the country. We agree with the Deputy wholeheartedly that we do not need our children to be educated in what were supposedly temporary replacements but became permanent solutions for many schools.

The Minister confirmed to me today, following communication from the Deputy, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and other Government colleagues in the area, that he is available to meet the board of management and perhaps representatives of the wider school community with a view towards reassuring them of the significant progress that has been made to date on this project under this Government and outlining to them where we go next in delivering it ultimately.