Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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35. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the proposals he is reviewing, in conjunction with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, to realise the programme for Government commitment to have schools available for child care services outside school hours; if community groups and private providers will be allowed tender for access to those facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34874/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Will the Minister provide an update on the proposals relating to granting access to schools after-school hours to child care providers, including community groups, in order that they might offer after-school care? Will they be allowed to apply for access to after-school facilities in schools? The Minister is aware that many schools are closed by the middle to late afternoon and for parents looking for child care, it would be an obvious use of resources to grant access to providers.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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This issue is addressed in the programme for Government. My Department is working closely with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to consider how to facilitate schools that wish to make their facilities available as part of the range of options for parents where demand exists.

In general, school authorities have a considerable degree of autonomy in respect of how their premises are managed and utilised at local level. The use of school facilities must be approved by a school authority. In 2005, my Department issued a circular to trustees, boards of management and principals of primary and voluntary secondary schools to encourage trustees and boards of management to make their facilities available where possible for community, education and recreation purposes. The circular recognises that the decision ultimately lies with the relevant board or trustees and that the first priority at all times should be the interests of the school, its teachers and pupils.

In facilitating such extra provision there are a number of issues that need to be considered in respect of such arrangements. These include property, governance, procurement, insurance and liability and are being considered as part of a review within my Department of the requirements to be established around the use of school premises and property for preschool and after-school services and the preparation of guidelines regarding same.

In that regard, a cross-departmental group established under the Government is meeting regularly to assess the following: capacity and demand for services; children's views on after-school care; an appropriate quality and standards framework; the development of criteria for the capital scheme to be funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs under budget 2016; estimated existing use of school buildings; collaborative models with existing community and private service providers; and potential funding incentives for provision of services.

I expect to receive the report of this review group within a matter of weeks and will consider in detail the proposals and recommendations therein in conjunction with my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone. Furthermore, I engaged in round table discussions with management bodies before the summer on how to facilitate the wider use of school buildings for the community in order to get input from those working on the ground.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Will the Minister tell us who is carrying out this review? Are there any civil servants left in either of the Departments who are not working full-time on reviews? It is the comment we have heard most from the Minister since he became a Minister in that everything seems to be subject to review. In this respect, as the Minister probably knows, quite a few schools in Dublin and around the country run after school services in their school. These are popular with parents. They are using a valuable publicly provided resource. Given the fact that the standard of building in schools throughout the country is now very high, it is appalling to see these shut at certain times, such as during holidays and mid-term breaks, when they could be utilised by families, parents and children in the community. Will the Minister tell us what he has in mind? He said the review, like many of the other reviews, will be available in a couple of weeks but does he intend to take any action on this matter?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I am surprised at the Deputy giving out about evidence-based policy making when she did that also when she was in her Department. She set up a review before she made policy decisions and committed public money. That is the way I approach this issue, and it is the right way to approach it. We have very senior officials working on it, including the Assistant Secretary from the Department of Youth and Children Affairs, Bernie McNally, and my own Assistant Secretary, Gary Ó Donnchadha. This is a purposeful review looking at the level of demand, the potential and the barriers that need to be overcome in terms of meeting concerns about governance and basic issues like key holding, who will take responsibility for closing up, insurance and so on. These are practical issues and we have to work through those with the schools, which ultimately will make their premises available. We can only facilitate that. We are taking the correct approach and in accordance with the programme for Government we will implement changes in this area to facilitate more schools making their properties available. I agree it is a good use of an asset created by the public to make it more widely available, but I find it surprising that the Deputy would consider it a waste of time to consult those who are at the coalface seeking to make this happen.