Dáil debates

Thursday, 2 February 2017

Topical Issue Debate

School Accommodation Provision

5:35 pm

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this very important Topical Issue tonight. It is one on which I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will agree with me. There are three schools in the Curragh Military Camp. The Curragh post-primary school is a Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board school with approximately 170 pupils and to say the school building is Dickensian would be a fair description. It has great staff and pupils but they are operating in a building that has not been upgraded since the time the British were around. Across the road is the Curragh girls' primary school with a little over 100 pupils. Again, it is housed in a very old building with significant problems. A summer works application is in for roof repairs, but since it was made problems have emerged with heating and plumbing in the school. Down the road a little further but still within the camp is the Curragh boys' national school with 89 to 90 pupils. That school has made another summer works application to address a long-standing problem with its plumbing which is causing significant problems.

I called out to visit the principal of the Curragh boys' school last year. It happened to be just after the Minister's predecessor had opened the Educate Together primary school in Kildare town. Within the space of an hour and crossing the short distance from Kildare town to the Curragh Camp, I went from a brand new school with the best of provision for the children of Kildare town to a school with a bucket in the middle of the floor under a leaking roof. I saw a very big difference between the haves and the have-nots. It is incumbent on us to address the structural deficits in the three schools. There is a common denominator here. All the schools have great staff and pupils but an excellent education is being provided in sub-standard accommodation within the Curragh Camp, which is under the remit of the Department of Defence.

I want the Department of Education and Skills to develop a vision for the future provision of education in this area. I want the Department of Education and Skills to share my vision for a new school campus at primary and secondary level on a greenfield site in the Curragh. I have had initial discussions with my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Defence, Deputy Paul Kehoe, and flagged with him the deficit that is there and the need for an upgrade. This comes under his remit because there are ambitious plans for the Curragh Camp. The peace and leadership institute will be a fantastic development in the coming years as a result of significant investment by the taxpayer via the Department of Defence in the Curragh Camp itself. The freeing up of the three school buildings might well suit the Department of Defence and encourage it to offer us a greenfield site somewhere else. It could be argued that it is not really appropriate to have school provision at the heart of a military camp.

It would be much easier to talk to the Minister for Education and Skills and his officials about the provision of a new school building in this area if there was a greenfield site to start with. As such, I ask him to help me with discussions and that his officials would engage directly with their counterparts in the Department of Defence to talk about these issues and see if a solution can be found. To develop a primary and post-primary campus would address three schools that are currently in substandard accommodation and it would also address the very significant capacity issues for the greater Newbridge area, which I have raised with the Minister previously.

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Martin Heydon for raising this issue. What he has stated there goes considerably beyond his originally tabled issue which was on the improvement of the school facilities in the Curragh area. My reply, which deals with summer works programme approvals and applications, is available to him and is being circulated. However, he has raised a much wider issue.

The Department approaches a proposal like this from the perspective that the patrons are in a position to develop it. No such proposal has been put forward by the patrons at this stage. If an amalgamation of the primary schools was being considered, there would have to be considerable consultation. In terms of the development of new schools, my Department is obliged to consider not only the individual school, conditions and enrolment in respect of which the application is made but also the broader context of schools in the area. While recognising that the Deputy and Ceann Comhairle represent an area where there is considerable and growing pressure on schools, I have not seen a proposal from these schools and my Department has not had a chance to consider any such campus against the context of other provision and needs in the area. As such, I am not in a position to respond in detail to what the Deputy puts forward. Clearly, if there was a desire on the part of the patrons to put forward such a proposal, the Department would discuss it against the context of the planning model we have to apply.

As the Deputy knows, the demand for new places is running at about 20,000 net additional places every year. That is occupying more than 80% of our budget, which places a significant constraint on the Department in terms of considering any application. It has to apply the slide rule to determine how we meet our first responsibilities to ensure there are seats for everyone who wants to attend school. There is no doubt that if the Deputy feels there is an interest in the community in developing this proposal and that the capacity exists to do some sort of swap, I will get my officials to discuss it with the appropriate patrons and consider it in the context of other capital demands.

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his detailed response and for outlining a roadmap for us.

I can assure the Minister that all three boards of management are very keen to address the structural deficits. I will take the Minister up on the process he outlined and talk to him about the matter. The two summer works applications that have been submitted for the two primary schools are a matter of great urgency and I hope they get the utmost consideration in the short term.

The Minister referred to capacity and the planning of new schools. I welcome his announcement last weekend of engagement between Kildare and Wicklow ETB and Educate Together on a possible partnership. This comes after a very long campaign, as the Ceann Comhairle is aware, by the South Kildare Educate Together campaign. The Minister's announcement did not refer to a specific school. Locally, the ETB would have argued that St. Conleth's was the preferred option. I ask that the Department maintain an open mind on a possible partnership as those discussions continue.

The Educate Together campaign in south Kildare had a two-pronged approach. It fought for increased provision of choice in the south Kildare area, which is needed and desired by a number of parents and constituents. The second element concerned the pressure on space in Kildare, in particular the Newbridge area at second level where there is a lot of pressure in terms of capacity. There are three schools listed on the building programme which require extensions, the Patrician Secondary School in Newbridge, Cross and Passion College in Kilcullen and at Athy Community College. Spaces in those schools were needed yesterday. There is significant pressure and I want the projects to be progressed as quickly as possible.

A new school building on the Curragh site would address some of the capacity issues in Newbridge town. It would deal with all of the feeder schools in the rural hinterland. In the overall context of the pressure on school spaces in south Kildare, a new school on the Curragh campus would fit. I look forward to working with the Minister and his officials on the matter.

5:45 pm

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I am very aware of the issue. The Deputy, the Ceann Comhairle and other Deputies in the area have raised the concerns of parents with me, such as their desire to have new choices. We have outlined that there is a planning process within the Department which examines 314 different planning areas and the demographic pressures within them. Each planning area encompasses a significant range of schools.

I can understand the need for change. As the Deputy knows, there is a commitment in the programme for Government to advance the range of choice and ensure more schools emerge. I am very enthusiastic about the idea of Educate Together and local ETBs getting together in some form of collaborative patronage. It would open up new options.

I am confined to the planning approach because the Department's funding is under pressure and we have to make sure that we are systematic in the way we approach different parts of the country and are as fair as possible to everyone. I am very keen to accommodate, where possible, the needs of parents, but I have to work within the constraints of the budget and planning process. I am happy to work with representatives in the area.