Dáil debates
Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Priority Questions
School Accommodation Provision
3:40 pm
Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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34. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the communicative process, the system of review and the progressing and implementation strategy in place between himself and the forward planning section of the planning and building unit of his Department in relation to ministerial announcements of new schools and or major builds, especially in respect of the regularity, frequency, nature and duration of such meetings between him and the section; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24726/17]
Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I seek clarity on the relationship between the Minister's office and the forward planning section of the Department in respect of the manner in which they communicate on the progress of announced new schools and major builds. This arises from the recent experiences of a number of schools in my constituency where the respective communicated experience with the Department has been immersed in uncertainty and confusion over future plans. The schools in question have found communications in respect of future plans and decisions to be erratic, indecisive, unreliable and ever-changing.
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The original question does not include all those issues. The Deputy may find the reply a bit generic.
In the process leading to ministerial announcements of new schools,my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post-primary level to determine where additional school accommodation, including new schools, will be needed. When this process has been completed, I receive a detailed memorandum with recommendations for the establishment of new schools. Once I have approved the recommendations, an announcement is issued advising the details of where the new schools will be required.
In order to determine who will operate the school, a separate patronage process is subsequently commenced and I receive a memorandum advising on the details of the process, when it should commence and the closing date for applications. Once approved, a ministerial announcement is issued inviting patron bodies and prospective patrons to apply.
When the assessment of patronage applications has been completed by the forward planning section, a report is then sent to the independent new schools establishment group, NSEG, with detailed analysis of each area. The NSEG reviews the report and submits its observations and recommendations to me. On this basis, I make the final decision on patronage of the new schools. Depending on the issues to be addressed in the course of an overall process, I will seek updates or meet with the relevant section as required.
The process is similar for major building works. The demographic need is established using the various CSO, departmental and local authority input on demographic trends and projects are chosen to achieve the best fit for emerging needs in an economic manner. A list of major projects, covering a multi-annual programme, is then drawn up.
Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The nub of the question was on what happened following patronage and following the announcement. A concrete example of where there needs to be more oversight and communication between the Minister's office and the forward planning section is Ballinteer Educate Together national school, which was announced as a primary school in 2012. A deal was negotiated between the Department and St. Tiernan's community school to house the school temporarily until it received planning permission for a permanent home. St. Tiernan's agreed because it was promised a PE hall but, five years later, there is no permanent home for Ballinteer Educate Together and no PE hall for St. Tiernan's.
It is the manner in which Ballinteer Educate Together school is learning about its future which is of the greatest concern. In November last year the principal, staff and parents learned of the Department's plans to move the school to the Notre Dame campus via a tweet. That is unacceptable. Last month, parents from Ballinteer heard by word of mouth from other people that a Gaelscoil would now be moving into the junior school at Notre Dame. Despite the fact that only 27 school days are left until the summer break and despite repeatedly requesting the layout of classrooms, Ballinteer Educate Together has not been guided through exactly how the move will work or whether it will happen in June, July or August, and it has not been afforded a visit to the new campus by the Department. To compound the departmental communications fiasco, when the principal recently rang to seek clarity, she was told the forward planning section was under pressure planning for other schools. It is not good enough and I appeal to the Minister to communicate with the forward planning section so that clarity can be provided.
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Incredible confusion and stress arises when a school goes from, say, stage 2b and is waiting on the final go-ahead for the commencement of work on a project. It is very difficult for traditional parish schools because the budget for new school buildings for large primary schools with 1,000 pupils, or secondary schools with even more pupils, is between €5 million and €10 million. The task of managing the budget falls to a voluntary part-time board and although I find the attitude of many officials positive there is enormous confusion in the Department, causing stress to school boards, principals and parents. We are still recovering from the construction collapse because lots of schools have lost various technical teams or had to replace them. The Department, particularly the Minister's own office, does not seem to be able to address these issues.
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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A huge range of issues have been raised. I am not fully briefed on Ballinteer but my recollection of previous discussions in the House is that the site chosen was refused planning permission by the local authority, which was confirmed by An Bord Pleanála. Attempts to resolve it resulted in another refusal and an appeal to An Bord Pleanála. There has been particular difficulty in getting resolution to an access problem on the chosen site. I do not know why that occurred and any planning process can run into difficulties.
For managing these projects we have a patronage model and individual patrons run schools and bring forward proposals, for which there is a process within my Department. We are managing it pretty efficiently and we spend all the money we get. We built 22,000 school places last year but, with a budget of that scale with up to €20 million for individual projects, we have to plan our resources and release them in accordance with the budget schedules we have to meet with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. There can be hold-ups in the system, which ensure the spending flow is in accordance with the available resources, and the building unit has developed its approach over time. Nevertheless, I am open to looking at ways in which it can be improved.
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Traditional parish schools are getting a raw deal.
Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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It is not acceptable for a school to learn of the plans for it by social media or word of mouth and that has to stop. I ask the Minister to keep schools informed of progress. Is he aware of the problems making progress with new builds? Is this lack of communication happening throughout the country? Is the forward planning department vastly underresourced and does the Minister need to prioritise funding for the section? Dublin Rathdown is a constituency which will soon not have enough schools to meet its needs. How is the Department planning for the future needs of schools and children? The lack of vision in the Department is worrying.
The issues also affect another school in my constituency, Our Lady's Grove, where a large portion of the land has been put up for sale. I appreciate that the land is private land being sold by private organisations but the Department should seek to protect the lands at whatever cost, whether that be through purchase or seeking a long-term lease. I ask the Minister to keep communication open with these schools and to do what he can to protect our schools, our open spaces and our children's education.
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I do not pretend that the planning and building unit in the Department is perfect but when a site chosen with local input is refused planning permission on two occasions it slows down the anticipated progress. When a site unexpectedly becomes available the Department moves to acquire it, as happened in the case of Notre Dame, so that it would be in a position to facilitate schools in a new site.
The Department is seeking to respond flexibly to a very rapidly changing environment. The construction of a school building does not automatically run on schedule every time, as Deputy Martin saw in regard to the Ballinteer Educate Together school. I am happy to consider any suggestions on this issue. The system is tried and tested and delivers high-quality buildings relatively cost-effectively. It is impressive that it is meeting the huge demand caused by the pressure of new pupils on the system. However, I am always open to improvements and will ask for an examination of the processes of the building unit to ascertain whether practical improvements can be made.