Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Office of the Ceann Comhairle giving me the opportunity to raise this subject. It concerns the urgent need for the Minister for Education and Skills to approve funding of €50,000 towards the replacement of windows in Bunscoil Louis Naofa, Cloughvalley Upper, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan. This is an issue I have pursued with the Minister, Deputy Bruton, through written representations and also through parliamentary questions.

The school was built in 1985. The windows were installed at that time. They have not been replaced in the meantime and they are of very poor quality. They are aluminium single glazed windows, which are totally unsuitable and need to be replaced urgently. There is an urgent need to provide this funding as these windows must be replaced before winter, if at all possible. The poor condition of the windows causes serious problems in terms of the school trying to provide adequate heating for all the rooms. There are additional attendant costs also because of the poor quality of the windows. The school has also been subjected to vandalism, which also causes a heavy burden on the school.

I want to emphasise that, over the years, through the school's own fundraising efforts, necessary improvement works have been carried out to the school without any assistance from the Department. If one were to go back through the files of this school in the Department, one would recognise immediately that it has not been a burden on the Department with regard to drawing down funding for improvement works.

In the past six years alone, tarmacadam was laid in the playground at a cost of €22,000, the car park was extended twice, the walls of the school were insulated, the GP room was upgraded, white boards were provided in each classroom, the front doors were repaired and the fencing of the school grounds alone cost €56,000. Roof slates had to be replaced and windows replaced due to vandalism. Basic improvement works such as repainting was also carried out in the classrooms. All of those works were undertaken through the school's own fundraising efforts. Apart from those specific projects, there was ongoing maintenance work as well. On a number of occasions the school applied for the summer works scheme grant. Unfortunately, it was not successful.

I visited the school and met with the principal, Maeve Callan, and her staff. There is a great sense of community in the school. I am glad the Minister is present in the Chamber, having been a former school principal. Immediately on visiting the school, one was aware of the great community, atmosphere and huge interest of the principal and all her staff, both teaching and support staff, in the pupils attending the school. It has had an excellent board of management over the years, and successive parents' associations have been very beneficial also in terms of the ongoing work of the school. Numerous parents have contacted me in support of the request of the board of management to have this funding approved at the earliest possible date.

When I visited the school, along with one of the members of the parents' association, Rory McEvoy, whose children attend the school, the interest of the parents and indeed the wider school community was obvious to me in terms of trying to have these necessary improvement works undertaken. They would not be seeking funding from the Department were it not for the fact that they have raised so much funding over the years through their own efforts. Those efforts resulted in accommodation being upgraded and essential ongoing maintenance work being carried out. They believe, and I fully support their belief, it is time for the Department to approve this funding to allow those urgent repair works to be undertaken.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, who is unavailable. I thank Deputy Brendan Smith for raising the matter, as it provides me with the opportunity to outline the current position relating to the application made by Bunscoil Lughaidh Naofa, Carrickmacross, for funding under the summer works scheme 2016-2017. I understand the Minister, Deputy Bruton, previously clarified the position relating to this application to the Deputy through written correspondence in June and August, and more recently in the House yesterday, 5 October, through Parliamentary Question No. 123. However, I will restate the position for the purpose of the debate.

As the Deputy will be aware, a total of €80 million was allocated for the summer works scheme announced last November. The scheme will apply on a multi-annual basis in 2016 and 2017 and will be funded from the Department's multi-annual capital budget. This funding package is part of the Government's continued commitment to fund improvement and upgrading works in existing school buildings throughout the country. The scheme is designed to address necessary and immediate works and the onus is on school authorities to identify the most urgently required works to be funded from the summer works scheme.

Bunscoil Lughaidh Naofa applied for window replacement under the summer works scheme 2016-2017. Window replacement is classified as a category 7 project under the scheme. On 28 April 2016, the Department announced a €30 million investment for more than 197 primary and post-primary schools under the first round of the multi-annual summer works scheme 2016-2017 to undertake vital gas works and electrical upgrades. These works are classified as category 1 and category 2 projects, respectively, under the summer works scheme. Valid summer works applications from schools in respect of categories 3 to 10 that were not reached under round one approvals announced last April will, subject to the overall availability of funding, qualify to be assessed under future rounds of the scheme. The application made by Bunscoil Lughaidh Naofa is available to be considered in this context. If this arises, the terms and conditions of the scheme, as outlined in Circular 55/2015, which may be accessed on the Department’s website, will continue to apply when allocating funding to such projects.

In the meantime, the school may use its minor works grant, which all primary schools received last November, to carry out remedial works in full or on a phased basis as that grant permits if the school considers them to be a priority.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. I ask her to pass on to her colleague in government, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, my repeated request that should capital funding become available within his Department between now and the end of the year, this is a project in respect of which any funding provided would be put to good use. As the Minister is aware, there can be delays in some capital projects at the end of a year and these provide the opportunity for a reallocation of funding to more minor works. In those instances, the money can be drawn down quickly and spent before the end of the year.

Bunscoil Lughaidh Naofa has a current enrolment of 282 pupils and has grown considerably since it opened 31 years ago in 1985. I again emphasise that apart from minor works grants, which by their nature entail small amounts of funding, no capital funding has been spent on the school during that time. The school has spent its own money. It has fund-raised and put the money to good use. The school has the full support of its board of management and successive parents' associations but now has reached a point where it is not in a position to fund-raise any more to carry out this necessary work. I emphasise that the principal, Ms Maeve Callan, her staff, the board of management and the parents' association are fearful of the heating costs that will arise for the school in the event of a severe winter. The capitation grant is lower than all Members would wish and there are pressures on schools but a severe winter would cause severe financial hardship for that school. I appeal to the Minister to pass on to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, the request I again make, namely, to have funding allocated before the end of this year to enable those much-needed improvement works to be undertaken at the earliest possible date. I assure the Minister that the school community in question will ensure that any State funding allocated to it will be put to good use.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for putting the case so forcefully and repeatedly. I thank him for giving me the opportunity to outline the current position regarding the application for the window replacement. The approval of further categories of summer works applications will be considered in the context of the Department’s 2017 capital Estimates.