Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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108. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way she plans to support the school building unit in how it delivers school buildings in a timely manner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16806/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister might tell us what the plan is to support the school building unit to deliver school buildings and extensions to school buildings in an efficient and timely manner. In my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, there are numerous projects that are taking an extraordinarily long time. Some cases are taking decades. It is essential the Department works collaboratively with principals to deliver our school buildings and extensions quickly, efficiently and as soon as possible to meet the growing demands.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Boland for raising this question. I acknowledge that she has prioritised this with me and wants to ensure that every child, parent and teacher in her constituency has the resources, supports and indeed the appropriate school buildings he or she requires in the years ahead. I am absolutely committed to working with her and all of the schools in that regard.

My role in this Department, working with the building unit, is to make sure it has the resources it needs and that it then supports and works with principals and design teams to ensure projects can be progressed in a timely manner. We have a strong track record of delivery. Since 2020, more than €5.8 billion has been invested in our schools throughout the country, which has involved the completion of more than 1,300 school building projects in a record investment. In Dublin alone, €1.3 billion has been spent in that time.

In order to ensure a timely roll-out of these projects, a number of things have been done. We have increased the support and the staff in the buildings unit. There currently is a staff of 240 with ongoing recruitment in that regard. A comprehensive suite of design guidance has been put in place for the delivery of school building projects, including standardised designs and room layouts with a strong emphasis on streamlining arrangements to support delivery. There is a particular circular with regard to repurposing additional accommodation, which has been particularly helpful to help with the opening of new special classes. There is a strong emphasis on procurement frameworks for design teams. There are new building officers and projects managers specifically to support schools and to make sure there is a focus on delivery, particularly for the more complex projects. We are working as well to make sure we have IT solutions to help support the roll-out of solar PV panel programmes, which are also part and parcel of much of the work taking place.

I acknowledge that some of the programmes and projects do not move as quickly as we would like. There often are reasons for that. Sometimes we have to manage the budget we have with the projects that are coming through. I assure the Deputy that we will work with all schools to make sure that as many of them can be progressed at the same time in a timely manner. We are working and constantly engaging with schools in order that this can be communicated.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I acknowledge that there has been a lot of investment in school buildings. However, my constituency of Dublin Fingal West is one of the youngest constituencies in the country. Balbriggan is the youngest large town in the country. We are rapidly growing. The towns of Rush and Lusk were tiny villages when I was a child but are now full of young and growing families. We are not delivering schools quickly enough. In Rush in particular, three schools have been waiting for decades. We need to see faster delivery.

Since I have been elected, I have been on a tour of the constituency to meet all the schools, to understand their challenges and to see the conditions they are working in. Some are working in appalling conditions. They have been delivered extensions of prefabs, which are uninsulated and falling apart. Kids are wearing coats in the classroom and there is damp, mould, unsuitable toilet facilities, etc. We need to make sure the Department is engaging, delivering and working with our principals who are doing their very best. They are not project managers, however.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I raise the issue of Scoil Bhríde, Sheelagh. It relates to an application it made at the end of 2023 for additional school accommodation, which was submitted to the planning and building unit. This was put in mothballs. It was sanctioned for two ASD classes and is afraid it will not be able to deliver on the second class. There seems to be a communication issue with the Department as a whole. It is also worried about the provision of classroom space for the current enrolment of pupils. There is a need for direct communication with this particular school. While I have tabled a parliamentary question on this matter, there is no chance that we will reach it this evening. I would be really appreciative if the Minister could look at this issue.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister spoke about school completions, the number of people working on them and the work that is being done.

My eldest daughter will be 19 in less than two weeks. She attended Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers when she was five. I was on the board of management. A new school is going to be built, probably in two or three years. It has been sanctioned and is going through design. Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers has been looking for a school building for 40 years, since 1985. It is unbelievable how slow this country is to deliver projects. The conditions in the school are very bad. It was formerly located above Na Piarsaigh GAA club. Only for them, they would not have a school at all. The school then moved to a business park and then to another school. They were like nomads.

The Convent Primary School in Mallow is looking for an extension and we are told there is a study going on. The Patrician Academy in Mallow has 43 children and is on a waiting list for a secondary school. There was a new school built eight years ago. It is unbelievable.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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If the Deputies want to send on individual projects, I can follow up to see at what stages they are. It is important to stress that there is record investment going into school buildings. We have 3,000 primary schools and 700 post-primary schools. The priority and focus always has to be to make sure, where additional accommodation is required, that we do this first, if an extension is required. I fully accept that some schools are decades old and need to be refurbished but we need to make sure that the steady pipeline is being worked through and it is being done as quickly as possible.

This year alone, we have more than 300 projects, which are costing €1.5 billion, so these are not small projects. These are new schools, extensions and refurbishments. Much of the funding is being invested in making sure that the school places we have been discussing, in particular the special school places, can be provided and rolled out. I commit that the Department will work with principals and teachers to make sure that as many projects as possible can be rolled out. My role is to make sure we get as much money in the budget as possible. The more I can get this year and the more I can get in the national development plan review, the more we can invest in our schools' infrastructure.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. Schools are an investment in our future. We need to move away from patching up prefabs that have been there for ten, 20 or 30 years when they were only intended to be used for a few years. We need to invest in our schools and invest in the future and in our children and teachers, by providing good, accessible, reasonable school accommodation. I would like to see a specific time limit introduced for the Department to respond to principals. A common theme in representations I get from principals is that they are not being responded to in a timely manner. I do not just mean it being a case of weeks or months; in some cases, it can be years. It would be good to see the Department bring forward a specific timeframe in which it will respond to principals and they will no longer be ghosted. I invite the Minister to Rush in Dublin Fingal West to see some of these fantastic schools like St. Joseph's Secondary School and Rush National School. The staff are working in really appalling conditions but still doing a fantastic job.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I would be happy to see some of these schools with the Deputy. She touched on the importance of not forgetting that the more we invest in schools now, the less they will need later on. New summer works and a climate programme have been announced and will be rolled out. It is important to make sure we are investing in changes to the buildings themselves that will provide efficiencies but that will also make sure that the maintenance is kept up. I hope to be able to announce the minor works grant scheme as well. This will provide that small amount of funding that actually saves in the long run. The PV grants and other areas that I have mentioned are not about just investing in the infrastructure but they provide cost savings on energy bills as well.

To the Deputy's original point, the objective of the Department and my role and that of the Deputy is to make sure that students are supported to fulfil their potential. This means them having the resources they need, including teachers, SNAs, and special education teachers. Students have to be educated in a setting that is conducive to that and this is why I am committed to securing more money in the budget so that we can develop more projects. I take the Deputy's point on timely engagement with principals. This might be something I could speak directly to her about how it is working at the moment and how we can improve it.