Dáil debates

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

School Accommodation

10:25 pm

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister for coming in. I raise the issue of North Wicklow Educate Together secondary school in Bray. I am not sure whether the Minister is familiar with this school but she will become very familiar with it. It has been let down over recent years in finding permanent accommodation and has been bounced from temporary accommodation to temporary accommodation. Unfortunately, it is in the middle of one of those bounces. It has packed up where it was based in the previous academic year and has all its things in storage. It was planned that it would move into a disused primary school in Bray, but it has yet to receive the keys to that school. It had been promised a complete refurbishment of the school, but that has not occurred and so the school wants to know what is happening. It needs to be able to find accommodation for its 240 students for September. It needs to be able to plan. There are many children with additional needs in the school who need to be planned for. I ask the Minister to give a progress update and to make sure the school gets the care and support it requires.

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Since the North Wicklow Educate Together school in Bray opened in August 2016, it has been treated absolutely appallingly by the Department. It was opened in 2016 in a temporary premises in the old Presentation College on Putland Road in Bray. At the time, the Department was aware of a 2015 High Court agreement between the former owner of the site and the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board that vacation of the premises needed to take place by April 2019. Last year, right up until the 12th hour, the school did not know where it was going to be located for the 2019-20 school year. At the last moment, the Department announced a 12-month extension to that lease, which would run out on 30 June just gone. In January of this year, the Department announced that the school would move temporarily to another old school, the former Ravenswell primary school building in Bray, in September of this year. There is now major concern because, with less than seven weeks to go until the school is due to reopen in that building, a legal difficulty appears to have arisen between the State solicitor and solicitors representing the owners of that site and a licence has not been signed. Significant refurbishment works are due to take place within the premises, which cannot happen until that licence is signed. This school has been treated appallingly by the Department and it is shameful that two Deputies have to come in to the Chamber to try to get answers from the Department and the Minister as to what is going to happen come September.

I have two specific questions for the Minister. First, when will the licence be signed between the two parties to ensure the significant refurbishment works can take place? Second, have tenders been signed to allow that work to take place and are contractors in place in order that it can be done immediately?

10:35 pm

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputies Whitmore and Brady for raising this matter. It provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position regarding the accommodation needs of the North Wicklow Educate Together secondary school for this September. As the Deputies may be aware, the school was established in 2016 and has been accommodated since then, as the Deputies said, in a leased property on the Putland Road in Bray.

The school opened with an enrolment of 36 pupils and numbers are growing incrementally, with an enrolment of 226 pupils in the 2019 to 2020 school year. I understand that the school expects an enrolment of 280 pupils for the 2020 to 2021 school year. My Department held a lease on the Putland Road property until 30 June last and has secured an extension to this lease until 31 October 2020. The school's patron is aware of this extension.

The property is not available for long-term lease and the school requires alternative accommodation to facilitate its growth. In this regard, the Department has secured the agreement of the Religious Sisters of Charity to use the former St. Philomena's primary school, Ravenswell, Bray to accommodate North Wicklow Educate Together secondary school. The legal arrangements associated with the lease are being finalised by the Office of the Chief State Solicitor and the owner's legal representative, and that process is expected to be completed shortly.

It is my Department's intention to have refurbishment works carried out in the building in advance of the school's occupation. In preparation for these works, various surveys were required to develop the scope of the work to be undertaken. This work was interrupted arising from Covid-19 and resumed when the restrictions were lifted. A licence agreement between my Department and the Religious Sisters of Charity is required to admit the building contractor on site to undertake the refurbishment works. The licence is being finalised by the Office of the Chief State Solicitor and the congregation's legal representative. This process is also expected to be completed shortly. My Department is anxious to ensure that the refurbishment works can be initiated in the building as soon as possible thereafter and will continue to keep the patron updated on progress.

My Department's planning and building unit is working closely with the school authorities and patrons, including Educate Together, to ensure that contingency arrangements are in place where necessary if a school building project is not completed in time for the start of a new school year as a result of delays caused by Covid-19.

I wish to clarify for the Deputies that my Department is continuing to prioritise this matter and will be liaising with the school's patron when a further update is available. I again thank the Deputies for giving me an opportunity to outline the position to the House and I assure them that the Department is concerned to ensure that the school's accommodation needs will most certainly be provided for.

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I am trying to take this in. It is incredibly disappointing for this school. From reading this reply, it would appear that it is expected that the school will take everything that has been packed up and is in storage in a different county, bring it back into the school that has already been deemed inappropriate, and that the school will be put in there for a month or two while this work happens, before the school is actually placed back in its new temporary accommodation.

This will be a huge upset for the school and for the children. As the Minister knows, children with special needs and additional needs must have routine and be able to plan. These children will now be forced back into a very uncertain period. It is unacceptable that this school will not have Ravenswell available to it in September.

Will the Minister expedite this work? Much of the work that has not happened, such as the licence, is something that could have happened administratively. It did not need to be postponed because of Covid-19. It is not like work on the construction site. I am really disappointed, therefore, that this has not happened and that the school is not getting ready to move into its new accommodation. Perhaps it might be possible to open a channel of discussion with the school itself, because it is completely unaware of this situation. The school will be really disappointed and frustrated to hear this news.

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I am flabbergasted by the response of the Minister and the handling of this entire situation by the Department. The school is completely in the dark as to what is going on. All the equipment from the building which the school is legally obliged to vacate has been packed up and is in storage. Now the Minister is talking about potential contingency plans being put in place if the work is not carried out. Perhaps somebody might want to speak to school and start talking to it directly about what plans may have to be put in place, because it is completely in the dark. The school is making plans to move into the building at Ravenswell, which it was informed it would be moving into in September.

I know Covid-19 has caused much disruption in this State, as it has across the world. I do not see how it could impact, however, on two legal entities signing a piece of paper, a licence, to ensure that the work could proceed. I simply do not buy that explanation. The handling of this situation by the Department has been absolutely shameful. Someone needs to pick up the phone to the school immediately, have a conversation and start putting in place contingency plans, if those plans need to be put in place. Less than seven weeks remain now until that school is due to open its doors to first years on 28 August. Someone needs to pick up a phone and start talking. It is absolutely shameful the way the school has been treated since 2016.

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the case the Deputies are making and the frustration being experienced all around. All I can say is that my Department is doing all it can to expedite this matter as quickly as possible for the benefit of everybody, and in particular for the benefit of the students and staff of the school. I clarify once again that my Department is continuing to prioritise this matter and will be liaising with the school's patron when and as quickly as a further update is available.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We must wait for the appropriate Minister to arrive before taking the second Topical Issue matter. The third Topical Issue matter is in the name of Deputy Sherlock to discuss the planning and construction of an inner relief road for Mallow, County Cork. We have a Minister for that matter.