Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to raise again the issue of Gealscoil Uí Earcáin, Fionnghlas. I have had the pleasure in this House of speaking about the fantastic work done by the principal, parents and teachers of the school and also the great environment created principally by the children. Unfortunately, the school is very old. I attended it when it was under the patronage of the De La Salle.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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That was a long time ago, I would say.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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It was. Having visited it recently, I was genuinely shocked to find that many of its fixtures and fittings were in place when I was a pupil. The school's condition is unlike that of my secondary school, which has been completely transformed. The windows are held together with plywood and there are large gaps in them. There is woodworm in old parquet floors, which are coming apart, and the hall is in really poor condition. The surface of the yard is incredibly uneven. The building has no accessibility elements at all. There are no toilets in the classrooms, so children have to travel to the far end of the building. The school is now mixed but was originally a boys' school, which means that it had to be retrofitted. There is no lift for children with access issues. Hot meals provided under the fantastic new hot school meals programme have to be brought upstairs, as does any equipment required.

All of this is despite the really fantastic effort of the parents and staff to make the school top class. The school is top class and has a great atmosphere. There is a 16-classroom extension due and it is included in the accelerated delivery of architectural planning and tendering, ADAPT, programme. I am really frustrated by how slow the process is. It was due to proceed to design phase. We have had to do some work, on foot of the good work of Minister of State Rabbitte, to put in a prefabricated unit for special educational needs. We have two other prefabricated units on site but need to have a new school building.

I get a little confused by the process of the school building unit. There is not much transparency in how things move from one stage to another. We need the Department of Education and Minister to ensure the unit is delivered. I ask that the Government do everything it can to ensure this.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Táim anseo ar son an Aire Oideachais, an Teachta Foley. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the major building project that will be undertaken at Gaelscoil Uí Earcáin.

A major building project to provide new suitable accommodation for Gaelscoil Uí Earcáin is included in the Department's construction programme, which is being delivered under the national development plan as part of Project Ireland 2040. As the Deputy said, this project will be delivered under the Department's ADAPT programme. The programme uses a professional external project manager to co-ordinate and drive the design team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning, to tender and construction.

The brief for this project is the development of a 16-classroom Gaelscoil with an additional two classrooms for pupils with special educational needs at the current site. As per the brief formulation document supplied to the incoming design team, the option of an extension to or refurbishment of the existing building and the alternative of a new school building and the demolition of the existing one will be fully considered by the school and its design team at stage 1 of the architectural planning process.

The tender competition to appoint the design team for this major project has recently concluded. An initial briefing meeting between the project manager, design team, departmental officials and school authorities was held last Friday, 26 May. During the meeting, the project manager outlined the ADAPT process to the newly appointed design team and the school authorities. As part of its stage 1 initial development, the design team will arrange a follow-up meeting at the school site in the near future.

Stage 1 of architectural planning - site investigation includes investigations of the condition of the existing school buildings, site suitability and the initial sketch scheme, detailing all preferred options for the development of the school's accommodation, including demolition and new build, if feasible. As the Deputy outlined, the school currently occupies a two-storey building constructed during the 1950s on its site at Glasanaon Road and the building fabric and finishes are typical of a building of that type and age. Under the Department's emergency works scheme, refurbishment works to the boys' toilet areas were carried out in 2021 and a tender report for works to the girls' toilet areas is awaited.

The Department recently approved funding to provide interim accommodation on the school site to facilitate the establishment of a special class for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years. The school was granted approval under the modular 2022 scheme for the rental of one classroom in November 2022. The Department is aware that additional works are required in respect of this classroom and a solution is being developed.

I am pleased to advise on behalf of the Minister that approval has issued for the provision of a second SEN classroom at the school and has been referred under the additional schools accommodation scheme. This will be delivered under the Department's devolved SEN reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme. This approach supports accelerated delivery of the accommodation, maximising assistance to the school for this brief. The project will be delivered from the Department's procurement frameworks.

A project management company has been appointed from the Department's framework to design and tender the project. The consultant will lead the project through the various stages of planning process and construction. The school authority has overall responsibility for delivery of the project. The Department is waiting on the school to return the completed form of acceptance.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Good news, Deputy McAuliffe.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State's outline of the process. In replies that constituency colleagues and I have been receiving since last year, it was promised that we would be at this stage many months ago. It is frustrating that an "accelerated" process has been anything but accelerated. I have very few focal Gaeilge, but the Minister of State would want to be telling the officials in the Department of Education "go tapaidh". Last May, the Minister informed the House that the tender for the design phase would take 12 weeks. It is now 12 months later. That is not good enough. While I welcome that the design team has been appointed and that the initial stages have commenced, the school is concerned that the length of time it has taken us to reach this point is a signifier of what is to come. We cannot have that.

This school was in the ownership of the De La Salle Brothers. The State spent €1 million renting the site from the De La Salle Brothers before purchasing it in 2019. The school has only come about because of parent power, with parents coming together to campaign for the Gaelscoil. My message to the departmental officials is that the school's parents will not go away quietly. It has taken too long to reach this stage, although I accept that we now have on the cards a 16-classroom extension, which is welcome. I acknowledge the difficult decisions being considered - whether to retrofit the existing building, what impact that would have on the school's operations, whether to demolish the old school and build in parallel, etc. These are all big questions, but we need to get going and ensure that no class in this generation has to wait another five or six years for the school to be in place.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I will bring this issue to the Minister's attention. In fairness, she has transformed the capital delivery of projects under the Department. She has secured budgets and processes. The appointment of a project manager and design team will move this project along. The project manager and design team will keep the school authorities and the patron body apprised of all developments in this major project. I am sure the Deputy will keep the pressure on the Minister.