James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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This is another school-related issue. St. Joseph's primary school in Kilcock dates from the 1950s. It was the first new national school in the town for some time. When the school was built, the population was 1,000 but it is now almost 6,500. However, the school buildings are unchanged from that time. I would like to give credit to the many parents who have contacted me in recent weeks. They are alarmed, concerned and confused about what will happen next with the school project. I acknowledge the presence of Councillor Paul Ward in the Gallery. He represents Kilcock and he has been involved in the campaign for the new school. I also give credit to the principal, Ms Ann McQuillan, her staff and management team who have made Trojan efforts over the past ten years to manage within the existing school structure, which is antiquated, outdated and undersized relative to the school population.

The school comprises four permanent classrooms in one building and nine prefabs, which equates almost to a 2:1 ratio of prefabs to permanent buildings. That makes the case strongly for a new building. The request was initially approved in 2007 by the Department and, in 2012, the then Minister, Ruairí Quinn, announced that the project would proceed and that construction would commence in 2014 or 2015. Planning permission was granted in 2015 on that basis but there were delays, leading to stage 2b approval finally issuing last year. The next logical step is to proceed to tender and then to construction with a view to the new school building finally opening.

The campaign dates back to 2007. More than ten years of effort has been put in by the school community and the town to get to this point, including significant local fundraising for ancillary supports to keep the school going in its current state in the meantime. They were, therefore, alarmed and concerned when they were told in correspondence prior to Christmas that there was no guarantee that the school would be included in the capital programme for 2018-19, which has thrown a spanner in the works. There is dismay, concern and confusion regarding the implications of this. The project has been agreed since 2007, and allegedly fast-tracked since 2012, but as it proceeds through the various stages, it suddenly has a question mark over it for the first time.

Nine out of 13 classrooms are located in prefabs. The population of Kilcock is expanding rapidly. There are multiple developments under way along the Meath-Kildare border on the approaches from both Maynooth and County Meath. The current and future educational needs are evident.

Not only that, the school has managed, in spite of all the challenges to accommodate two autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes, on which it should be commended, but they are also based in prefabs. The Department guidelines provide for sensory rooms and gardens, break-out rooms and general purpose play areas which are best practice for such units. The school has been unable to provide them but I commend Ms Ann McQuillan and the management team on providing ASD education anyway. The school has made its best effort. It was built for 150 pupils but it now has 355. All the efforts of the school, community and management team must be met by the Department. Will the Minister clarify the next steps in this process? Will he confirm whether the school is included in the capital programme for 2018-19? Will he confirm whether the tender is due to issue? When will the school building commence?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I can well understand the frustration of parents waiting for a school. That demonstrates the wider context in which the previous discussion took place. There is huge pressure on capital budgets to meet expanding needs when we are in the fortunate position of having increasing numbers of children entering our school. The major building project for St. Joseph's national school is at an advanced stage of architectural planning: stage 2b - detailed design. This includes securing the statutory approvals, as the Deputy said, such as planning permission, fire certificate and disability access certificate, and the preparation of tender documents. These have all been completed and the design team has submitted written confirmation that it is satisfied that the tender documents are complete, correct and in compliance with the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and the Department's tender documentation requirements.

This project is included in the six-year programme announced in 2015 to go to tender and construction. The project brief is for a new build 16-classroom school with a special needs unit. The Deputy will be aware of the funding pressures on the capital programme and the need to focus resources on the provision of additional school places to meet demographic needs. The Department's budget for 2017 was €693 million, of which €531 million was expended on the schools capital programme. This included 46 major projects. The next stages are commencement of a pre-qualification process, progression to tender and construction. They have to be decided within the context of the funding. We have to make sure that if we release projects, they are in line with our funding profiles. The position is that officials from my Department will revert to the school regarding a timeframe for progression of this project by the end of next week.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. I welcome the timeline and that there will be confirmation by the end of next week because the school authorities are in limbo at the moment.

I would be happier if the Minister was to tell me that the correspondence which will arrive next week will be good news. Knowing they will be told something is useful but knowing they will be told something that will advance the project would be ten times better. Can the Minister clarify whether the school is in line for the new building? It is ten years in the making and it has gone through all the different stages. It has been approved again and again, planning permission has been granted and in 2015 it was agreed for the capital programme. Are we going to stall in 2018 or are we moving forward?

I welcome the fact that there will be an update next week but I would be grateful if the Minister would indicate what it might be. Otherwise the parents will have another week or fortnight of anxiety. This topical issue matter is the time and place to make it known.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I understand the Deputy's point and I am always keen for projects to be released. However, I have to be careful and to make sure my officials are satisfied that the commitment they make is robust, so I have to allow them time to finalise their thinking. We are setting a firm timeline for completing this work.