Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Is the Minister of State dealing with the fourth Topical Issue matter as well?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Is it Deputy Stanley's matter?

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Yes.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I am.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Before the Leas-Cheann Comhairle starts the clock, I would like to say that I would have hoped that one of the Ministers of Education would be here. Romance is in the air tonight and there is important business on outside the Dáil in terms of people's romantic lives, but there are three Ministers and I had been hoping one of them would be here. I trust that the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, will take back the information and see that it is followed up on.

The issue I want to raise is St. Fergal's College in Rathdowney, founded in 1937. It still does not have a physical education, PE, hall 86 years later. It is the only secondary school in the county that does not have a PE hall. In 2010, the then Department of Education and Skills approved a plan along with extra classrooms. The classrooms were provided. They were constructed but no hall, because the money has not been provided since.

Planning permission is in place - this is important - and the board of management and Laois County Council have ensured that that is rolled over and has been kept up to date. This is a shovel-ready project.

This school is located in a rural area in Rathdowney. What is important about it is it serves a large catchment area of Durrow, Cullahill, Arles, Borris-in-Ossory, Knockaroo, back around to Cuddagh and taking in Ballacolla. However, that catchment areas does not have a sports hall in the community either.

These are the facts we are dealing with. The school population is increasing and it has excellent staff. I have visited the school many times and it has really committed staff who are doing their best to provide first-class education but they need to have the facilities. There are 330 pupils in the school now and this number is expected to increase by 16% in September, based on 2021 figures. There are Ukrainians to be housed in the town, for whom modular homes are being built. They will need school places and hopefully they will be accommodated. I know the people of Rathdowney will do their best in that regard.

The school currently has a small general-purpose hall that I have visited, which serves as a canteen, a meeting room, an assembly room, a storage room and a multitude of other uses. It is totally unsuitable and too small for any meaningful PE classes. There is also another issue. Leaving certificate PE, which is now an examination subject, cannot be provided at the school. The school cannot provide it because it does not have a PE hall. There is also the issue of disabled persons' access and use. In a school of this size, there will be pupils with disabilities and we must treat those children equally. That is what this is about. St. Fergal's College has a strong tradition in sport, particularly in hurling, and people in the midlands will know that south Laois is the strong end of the county where the hurling is very good. St. Fergal's College has played a key role in camogie, Gaelic football, soccer and athletics over the years. We know the benefits of physical activity. We know how important this is in terms of countering obesity and for the promotion of good health in children. I have raised this matter many times with the Department and the Minister for Health. It is a question of funding. We have been told we must wait for phase 2 of the national development plan, which is due to kick off later this year. Will the Minister of State ensure the case is brought back to and pushed forward by the Government in order that this school is treated properly and this project gets under way?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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The Minister for Education has asked me to answer this question on her behalf. This provides me with the opportunity to clarify the position in relation to the Department of Education's plans for upgrading school buildings, including St. Fergal's College, Rathdowney, County Laois. The Deputy may be aware that St. Fergal's College is a multidenominational, co-educational, post-primary school in the town of Rathdowney. In 2022, the school had an enrolment of 334 pupils. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the Department approved capital funding for the college in 2022 for the provision of four general classrooms, including two general classroom prefab replacements, as well as classrooms for students with special educational needs. It is proposed this accommodation would be procured under the Department's new sustainable accommodation framework. The sustainable accommodation procured under the framework is timber frame with low-carbon and high-energy performance, in support of the Department's climate action goals. The project was devolved to the school's patron, Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board, for delivery, with the initial approval letter issued to the education and training board on 9 September 2022. The Department's planning and building unit also received, as part of the additional school accommodation, ASA, application in November 2021 a request from St. Fergal's College seeking capital funding for the provision of a PE hall. The school authority was informed in writing at that time that funding for PE halls is not included under the parameters of ASA scheme.

My Department has a strong track record of delivery of school building projects and this was achieved again in 2022, despite the wider construction sector environment of high inflation, labour shortages, and supply-chain issues. Approximately 180 school building projects were delivered during 2022 and a further 273 school building projects continued in construction at start of 2023, most of which will be completed in 2023. I appreciate the strong support provided by the Government for our education budget. As part of the supplementary budget, €300 million in additional capital funding was provided in 2022. This helped to alleviate capital funding pressures that arose in 2022, which was reflected of the strong delivery by the Department of school building projects, particularly to support mainstream provision and special educational needs provision. The Department's overall capital outturn for 2022 was €1.12 billion.

The Department's planning and building unit is currently assessing its work programme and priorities for 2023 in the context of its available funding. The Department's published national development plan allocations for 2023 is €860 million. High construction inflation remains a continuing feature of the construction sector for 2023. As part of its planning ahead for 2023, the Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in respect of capital funding pressures in order to continue to be able to adequately support the operation of the school system with the roll-out of school building projects to construction in 2023. Key priorities for the Department's work programme include continuing strong delivery to support the operation of the school system, with particular regard to planning ahead for the 2023-24 school year and beyond, as well as to supporting special needs provision. Investment and expenditure on PE halls is an element of this programme expenditure an investment in school building programme.

Under the national development plan, there will be a strengthened focus on refurbishment of existing school stock. This will have different strands and will include a PE build and modernisation programme, which will enable students in post-primary schools to have access to appropriate facilities to support PE provision, particularly in context of the roll-out of PE as leading certificate subject. Enhanced and modernised PE facilities will also provide important amenities for local communities.

I again thank the Deputy for giving me an opportunity to outline the Department's position. The Department has approved additional accommodation for St. Fergal's College using the new sustainable modular accommodation framework. This accommodation will provide additional general-purpose classrooms, as well as including provisions of students with special needs. As the Deputy will appreciate, the provision of school places, including for children with special needs, is a priority for the Department. Funding for PE halls is outside the scope of the Department's additional school accommodation scheme, but it will be considered as part of a future modernisation programme under the national development plan. The Department will continue to work to delivered building projects in support of the operation of the school system, with particular regard to planning ahead for the 2023-24 school year and beyond, in addition to supporting special needs provision.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. This is about playing catch-up. This is about the children of Rathdowney and south Laois having the same opportunities and facilities as everyone else. As I said, the school opened in 1937. My father went there in the 1940s and those classrooms are still there. I welcome the fact the new classrooms were approved. This is welcomed by all and sundry, including the staff, board of management and pupils and I certainly welcome it as a local representative.

Any significant school needs to have functioning PE hall. It needs to have it for all the reasons I have outlined. The Minister of State said the Department is currently assessing capital projects and funding of future programmes in the 2023-24 year. I want this school to feature highly. In terms of the demographics of the area and the progress the school has made, it needs this facility. I want this included in the programme and I want the Minister of State to bring back this very strong message to the Minister, Deputy Foley. This is really important. We cannot have south Laois left behind the rest of the country. The children of south Laois cannot be left behind. An 86-year wait is a long time. I want to see this project brought on. There has been substantial investment in schools, all of which is welcomed. I have been at many of the openings of those schools around my constituency of Laois-Offaly. In this Dáil term, I want to see this project nailed down once and for all in order that we can get it up and running. It is shovel-ready and that it is good to go. Let us get on with it.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I hear the Deputy loud and clear. He wants St. Fergal's College, Rathdowney, to be provided with a PE hall in the interests of equity and he wants me to take that message back to the Minister, Deputy Foley. I will do that.

The current situation is that the existing additional schools accommodation scheme does not include provision for PE halls and yet the national development plan is a more than €100 billion capital scheme. In future iterations of the plan, or future schemes developed for the Department of Education, consideration will be made to include PE halls. Not just that, that they will include a PE hall build and modernisation programme to ensure students in all post-primary schools will have access to appropriate facilities in order to support PE provision, particularly in the context of the roll-out of PE as a leaving certificate subject.

I take the Deputy’s points that if we are going to have PE as a leaving certificate subject, the question arises as to how it can be done without having a PE hall in place; that there is a need for a PE halls in a country that is not always dry in order that students can participate in sports indoors; that having healthy students is part of the preventive health and public health programme for the country; and that it saves us money in the long term if students are getting their physical education in school. This applies to everybody, not just those students who are sporty and able to catch a ball. Plenty of sports can be done indoors – the kind of ones that I did – and are good for general health rather than those that are overly competitive or which can be done outside in a field. I see where the Deputy is coming from and I will take his comments back to the Minister and tell her what he has said today.