John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate this being included on the Topical Issue agenda today. It is a local issue, especially in the parish of Ballyroan, where Sancta Maria College is located. I thank the Minister of State for her attendance to take the question. It is a serious issue.

As background, Sancta Maria College has a brand new building. It is barely open. It cost the taxpayer a lot of money. It is proud educational infrastructure in the heart of the community. It is an all girls school, serving the local community of Ballyroan, Ballyboden, Knocklyon, Firhouse and beyond. It was with great shock, given the efforts made by the Minister for Education and Skills, departmental officials, teachers on the ground, school staff, including caretaking staff, secretarial staff and ancillary staff, parents and children to get back to school and to ensure that the school community was up and running even with the severe restrictions and challenges posed by Covid, that the school found itself in a situation this week when the heating system broke down. Obviously these things happen but the school was then told it would be closed until next week. A consequence of this is that pupils returned home. It is of particular consequence and anxiety to students and their parents who are studying for the leaving certificate to be sent home and to lose time, having already lost three to four months of the school curriculum in the lead-up to the leaving certificate in 2021. They were then told that learning has to move online, which has proven satisfactory in some subject areas and unsatisfactory in others.

I raise this issue today as a matter of priority on their behalf.

I hope the Minister of State will have news on funding to be provided, if necessary, to repair the heating system in a brand new school. She may also be able to give the community some information on how a system like this can break down so soon into its operation and lifespan. Will she give some kind of reassurance to the school community, and the students and parents in particular, on when normal operations will resume at Sancta Maria College?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley, this provides me with the opportunity to outline the current position on the problems experienced by Sancta Maria College in Rathfarnham, which the Deputy alluded to earlier this week. A major building project has been under way at the Sancta Maria College since 2015, which is delivering major refurbishment works and an extension to the college.

As part of this project, the heating in the system was upgraded to bring it to a modern standard and some further works were also done to ensure any outstanding snags in the heating system would be done in the summer break of 2020. The main contractor for the contract, L&M Keating, returned to the site after the national Covid-19 shutdown of construction sites but progress has been extremely slow since the resumption. The main contractor ceased work in early July and has not returned to the site since.

I am not sure if the Deputy is aware but in recent days, the main contractor has applied for examinership, which has been granted on an interim basis. I understand it will be confirmed at a hearing in the High Court on 12 October 2020. My Department's building unit is aware of the problem with the heating system in the school and was told at lunchtime on Tuesday, 6 October, when the school emailed, seeking approval to appoint an engineering contractor to resolve the issues. That afternoon, the board of management at the school was authorised to have all necessary works carried out by the engineering contractor. This work has, therefore, been authorised outside the existing main construction contract in order that we can ensure, as the Deputy stated, that the heating systems can be brought back to full working order as quickly as possible.

He will be glad to hear that the school principal has informed my Department that the work to the heating system is scheduled to commence tomorrow, which is Friday, 9 October. It is anticipated the work will be completed in time for the school to reopen on Monday, 12 October. I hope that is seen as good news by the Deputy. If he has further questions, we can liaise on them.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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That is good news for the school community and its parents and teachers. There is no point in labouring the issue. I am grateful for the comprehensive reply given by the Minister of State. It is very bad news to hear about the contractor, and that this was a cause for the school closing.

There is another matter, as blended learning has had to be used and there was an understandable lack of preparation because the school could not anticipate that it would have to move to online learning so quickly after resuming normal schooling. I am grateful to the Minister of State and her officials for supplying the information so quickly. I am also thankful that the funding was authorised for Sancta Maria College to proceed with the appointment of an engineering firm to address the problem as quickly as possible. Next Monday is as early as possible a date for this to be done in the circumstances. I ask the Minister of State to thank the officials in her Department for that.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I will do so. The Department will continue to work with Sancta Maria College on all the other matters as well. I note the Deputy's comments on blended learning, and with Covid-19, the Department and the Minister are acutely aware of such matters. We must support schools where they find themselves in a position where the pupils cannot attend or buildings must close for whatever reason. It is something we are looking at on a daily basis.