John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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3. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether best practice has been used by his Department regarding the length of time a school (details supplied) has been waiting to be placed on a buildings project list; if he will acknowledge it is utterly unacceptable that this school has been waiting patiently for 29 years in prefabricated accommodation for permanent structures to be provided for its students; his views on whether the circa €1.8 million spent renting and maintaining these prefabricated structures represents value for taxpayers' money, especially when the estimated amount to construct permanent structures on this site would have been less than that figure; if he will acknowledge further that this school already owns its own site, has full planning permission for construction and is ready to proceed; if he also will acknowledge this school has waited longer than any other school in the country and should be on top of his list; if he will commit to adding this school to the current buildings project list without delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23539/14]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Since the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Quinn, came to office, I have raised repeatedly with them the case of Gaelscoil Philib Barún, Tramore. At 29 years, this Gaelscoil has waited longer than any other school in the country for a permanent building. The past 11 years has been spent in a site owned by the Department of Education and Skills in ageing prefabs, some owned by and others rented by the Department. To date, almost €2 million has been spent on temporary accommodation. Does the Minister of State agree this is an excessive waste of public funds and is money that could have been spent constructing a new school?

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the Department's priority is to ensure that every child will have access to a physical school place. This can necessitate the use of temporary accommodation, as in the case of the school in question, until the Department is in a position to provide a permanent building. The delivery of major school projects required to meet demographic demand will be the main focus for capital investment in the coming years. The five-year plan announced by the Minister, Deputy Quinn, early in the lifetime of the Government prioritises new school building projects, as well as major extensions in areas where a demographic need has been established. Tramore, where the school is located, has not been identified by the Department as an area of significant demographic growth. A project for the school was not, therefore, included in that five-year plan.

The school's building project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, that is, stage 2b. This stage 2b report is currently being reviewed by the Department. Following this review, the Department will contact the school authority regarding the potential, at that time, for further progression of the project in the context of available funding.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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That was an extraordinary answer. The Department of Education and Skills has told the school's board of management that it is prioritising areas of demographic growth for new schools. The population of Tramore increased by 7% between 2006 and 2011, with 30% of the population classified as being of preschool and school-going age. Over the past decade, enrolments in Tramore increased by more than 500 pupils and if this does not constitute demographic growth, I do not know what does. Incidentally, last August this project was authorised to proceed to stage 2b, meaning all planning and statutory approval had been completed.

In a letter to me last September, the Minister commented that he made contact with the school with the potential for further progression of the project. Incidentally, we still are waiting for a reply. In the course of the Minister's visit to the school, he suggested that despite having a site ready with full planning permission in place, the school could be accommodated in a place called the Stella Maris building, which has been rejected by the school and parents. In October 2011, the Minister wrote to me to confirm that the project was on the original construction list but this never happened. I ask the Minister of State to tell the parents, children and teachers of the school why this is the case, based on what the Minister wrote to me and based on the information he gave to the school, the teachers and the families.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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First, I should identify how the Department identifies areas that are undergoing significant demographic challenge.

It uses a combination of CSO data - the most recent census data - and data from the Department of Social Protection - children's allowance data - to generate a very accurate picture of what the demographic demand is now and what it will be in the next five to six years. Using that data, it has been concluded that Tramore, where the school is located, is not currently an area of significant demographic growth. That is hard verifiable data from the CSO and the Department of Social Protection, from which one is able to document every child living within a certain radius of that school.

The Department has a major challenge to face in terms of delivering school buildings over the next number of years and I am sure the Deputy is more than aware that enrolment in post-primary and primary schools is expected to grow by almost 70,000 by 2018 - more than 45,000 at primary level and 25,000 at post-primary level. That is a major challenge we face in terms of providing classroom space for those young people. The Minister has always expressed a fear that at some point we would arrive at a situation where children of school-going age would simply turn up at a school with no classroom space available for them.

Prefabricated classrooms are not the ideal environment for any school and we all wish we had the resources not to have to use prefabricated accommodation. However, for the moment, those young people in Tramore have a school and classrooms. They have quite a modern school environment, based on the fact that most of the investment was made over the past three or four years. As we say, when resources become available to us, we will be able to progress that project to a new school building at some point in the future.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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It just goes to show how out of touch the Minister of State is that he does not know that part of the school building collapsed on children in February. Some 30 children had to be evacuated, many of whom were asthmatic. Was the Minister of State not aware that one of the prefabs had collapsed? In 2012, the Department promised to reinstate the school building project to a building list. Why has that not been done? I am not too sure if the Minister of State is aware of what is happening in his Department? He is not aware as to whether the school has been reinstated to the building list? Is he not aware that one of the prefabs collapsed and children had to be evacuated? That was on the national news.

The Minister of State needs to clarify his position on Gaelscoil Philib Barún. The Minister promised the school building project would be reinstated to the building list but the Minister of State said the opposite. I have shown the Minister of State where the demographics come into play with the number of children on the school list and the population growth in Tramore. Surely that warrants people not having to be educated in prefabricated buildings in a state of collapse.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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To clarify, the Deputy made reference to the fact the school has somehow been removed from the school building list and needs to be reinstated. It is currently on a school building list. There are many other such projects in the same situation. There is, and there always has been, two separate building lists in operation. There is the five year capital programme announced by the Minister early in the lifetime of the Government to address that very significant demographic challenge in areas of increasing population and to cater for those 70,000 children coming into our system but alongside that, there is another list on which this school is included and where we are moving schools to a point where they are ready to move to construction. The Deputy is aware that the stage 2b report is currently being reviewed by my Department. Following that review, the Department will contact the school authority. There will be ongoing engagement with the school authority and it is not true to say it has somehow dropped off the radar or a list of priorities for the Department.