Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and thank the Minister for taking this issue. I have raised the condition of facilities and infrastructure at the Enable Ireland Sandymount School. I put on record that while I welcome the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, I am disappointed the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte is not here to take this issue and I know that was a matter of the Ceann Comhairle’s making. I have engaged with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on this and she has a very particular interest in the conditions here and is concerned about gaps in the provision of disability services and therapies in the Sandymount school, as am I.

I commend the amazing work that has been done at the Enable Ireland Sandymount School, especially the work of the principal, Jennifer Doyle, and her staff. This school is located on Sandymount Avenue in the heart of my constituency of Dublin Bay South. All those who live in the locale will be very well aware of it, as will many others who live further away, because it does a huge amount of work in providing education but also therapeutic support, treatments and interventions for children, many of whom have significant challenges and special needs and who require significant supports.

I had the pleasure of visiting the school most recently for its Christmas fair on 8 December, at the invitation of the principal, so I could see the facilities for myself and meet many of the pupils, parents and of course the staff who provide the supports. I wanted to hear from them directly about the work they are doing and the sort of issues they face. As I have said, many of the children require significant supports and have very particular needs. There is also an especially poignant issue in that some of the children have life-shortening conditions and there have been some very sad losses. I express my sincere condolences and sympathies to the families and the communities of those children who have so sadly died so young, in some cases, and who were pupils of the school.

On a happier note, in December I had the pleasure of viewing for myself the new playground facility that has been constructed at the school and of which the school and indeed the pupils are extremely appreciative. We viewed the playground and saw the hugely transformative impact it is having for children attending the school and for whom it provides a really important way of having play amenities available to them. However, while the playground is new and very impressive, the condition of the building is unfortunately far from impressive. The building is in an appalling condition. There are holes in the ceilings and walls. There are leaking ceilings and I saw the buckets the school staff are placing because rain is coming through. Conditions are deteriorating at a very rapid pace. I also saw how some of the most critical and normally most heavily used rooms, such as soft play areas for example, are simply out of use. The children have no access to these rooms and that is really impacting upon the quality of not just their education, but their treatment and any therapeutic intervention the school is offering to them. We cannot stand over this in Ireland in 2024. I am asking that the Government intervene to provide improvements in the conditions so the school has the necessary supports to fix the leaks and the buildings and ensure the children can have fit-for-purpose conditions in their school.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. Before the Minister of State responds, it was Deputy Andrews as well as Deputy Bacik who presented this matter. The time is up, though it would have been shared normally.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I am sorry.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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No, it was also my mistake. With the agreement of the House, I will give Deputy Andrews two minutes. I thank Members.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Take a breath, Deputy, and a drink of water.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I think we all did.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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We were a bit quicker than that.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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We are too efficient.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Just to clarify, the Minister of State has four minutes to respond and then Deputies will have a minute each.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising the important issue of Enable Ireland Sandymount School. I am responding here on behalf of the Minister for Education.

Enable Ireland Sandymount School is a co-educational, special school providing a primary and second-level education to students aged from four to 18 with physical and other complex needs. The school property is not in the ownership of the Minister for Education. I can confirm to the Deputies that the Department of Education is not in receipt of a current application from the school for the additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme. The purpose of the Department’s ASA scheme is to ensure essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation. At primary level, this situation generally arises to cater for a school’s accommodation requirements where an additional teaching post has been sanctioned by the teacher allocation section or the requirement for a new class for pupils with special education needs has been identified by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.

Provision for children with special educational needs is a priority for the Department of Education and in that context it works very closely with the NCSE on forward planning for increased special education provision in the form of additional special classes and special school places. The main focus of resources over the past decade and for the coming period is on the provision of additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics. As a result, the current priority under the ASA scheme is the provision of essential classroom accommodation to meet demographic demand or where an additional post is being appointed.

Since 2020, the Department of Education has invested in the region of €3.5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of more than 840 school building projects, with construction under way at approximately 300 other projects. School building projects at construction involve an overall State investment of more than €1.2 billion. We also have in excess of 210 modular accommodation projects that are very well advanced for delivery or at construction stage. This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government’s very strong track record of delivery in providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.

Enable Ireland Sandymount School applied to the emergency works scheme for funding under category 2 for roof works on 22 December 2023. Defects in the roof membrane and the degradation of silicone sealants has led to rainwater ingress which caused deterioration to the building fabric and finishes. This roof membrane was initially put in place in 1998. In addition to this, the roof lights are degrading and brittle and will require replacement. These issues have led to the school closing four areas of the building, namely, the PE hall, one classroom, a soft play room and toilets. These rooms have been out of use since September 2023. The school noticed the initial water ingress in the winter of 2022 and since that time has carried out remedial works to the problem areas. However, additional remedial works are now required.

Once the Department received the application it was reviewed by the emergency works scheme's technical team who found the area of roof covered by the application to be larger than required to address the immediate issues. Under circular 0068/2020, the emergency works scheme cannot provide funding for full roof works. The circular provides for an urgent remedy to prevent the immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment and to prevent the school, or part thereof, from closure. In this regard, the Department has advised the school to carry out a dry test which will indicate any damaged areas of the roof that are in need of repair. Remedial works may then be carried out on these specific areas as an interim measure. A longer term solution such as a roof replacement, where appropriate, may be facilitated under the summer works scheme. At this time the Department is awaiting the results of the dry test.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for the update but it is simply unacceptable that four areas of the building are out of use and have been thus since September. For some administrative reason, the emergency works scheme cannot provide funding for full roof works so this is now being put off, potentially until the summer, meaning that the children will not have access for the full school year to four rooms. This is not a large building so the children are being deprived of a very significant part of the their facilities. I appeal to the Minister of State to raise with the Departments of education and equality the need to carry out the remedial works urgently and not to wait until the summer works scheme comes into play. It is so important that children have access to the full facilities that should be available to them in the school. Currently, they are being deprived of those facilities.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Again, I thank both Deputies for giving me the opportunity to outline the Department of Education's position. The Department has been engaging with the school, as is evident from my response, regarding the level of detailed knowledge around the challenges that exist in the emergency works scheme application received. The Department will continue to keep the school informed throughout that process.

The point about the dry test is that the emergency works scheme is not for large-scale roof replacement, if that is what is required. It is for short-term, interim measures that schools can take to remain open and operational. I fully accept what the Deputies are saying about the extent of the impact on the students, staff, parents and everyone involved here but, ultimately, the vehicle for that full scale, bigger job is the summer works programme. The school will already be aware of how to apply for that scheme.

In terms of the emergency works scheme, if there are certain parts of the roof where small measures or interventions can be done now and which would get some of those areas open again, the Department is open to that. The results of the dry test will feed into that consideration, but the broader job, as I understand it, is more likely to fit in with the summer works scheme.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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For the record, we are now going back to the first Topical Issue on the list in the name of Deputy Steven Matthews.