Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I read the press release issued on Monday by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, which detailed the 28 schools that will undergo major energy and decarbonisation retrofit works this summer under the pathfinder programme. It is welcome news for those schools and I have no doubt they are delighted to be selected. I understand the pilot inventory covered schools in counties Kildare, Meath, Offaly, Wicklow and Wexford, with 40 schools participating in the planning and design stages of the programme. However, there are other schools in every county that would also love to be included in the programme. I hope the Minister of State will review it and consider adding another school. It is a primary school in Drogheda, St. Joseph's CBS. It has two buildings: the green building, which was built in the 1950s, and the red building, which was built in the 1980s. I was contacted by the school's climate action officer, a young teacher who has taken on the additional workload of detailing and attempting to deal with a long list of problems caused by the age of the school and the lack of funding to deal with the problems over many years. The pathfinder programme would deal with many of the issues the school faces and be a real lifeline in bringing it up the standard expected of 21st century learning and working facilities.

The school had an energy audit completed under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI support scheme for energy audits, SSEA and an energy analysis report was done by another company. Although from reading the reports I see that the findings are concerning, they are also fixable and the possibilities if funding is given are positive. Another report was done by a specialist mould removal company. The list is so long that the school had to engage another company to prioritise the recommendations that they should look at putting into action. The school is doing everything it can and desperately needs financial assistance to implement those recommendations.

I went on a tour of the school, which is populated by happy and engaged children who are a credit to the teachers and principal, but I have to admit I was shocked at the conditions. Water is settling on the flat roof and leading to leaks. Calcium deposits from water ingress can be seen in the fire escape. There is mould and moss caused by the water ingress in addition to the lack of ventilation and heat in the fire escape. There are mould, leaks and dampness in the fourth- and fifth-class classrooms and when I was walking the corridors, there were buckets and basins at various points collecting water that was leaking in. A recent energy audit conducted by Codex Energy on behalf of Dunleer Energy Team found that, at best, the two oil boilers were only working at 65% efficiency. When I saw the boilers I gasped. I could not believe anything that old was still in operation. The school is burning through money trying to keep the entire school warm.

Work is needed on the building fabric, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and the school needs help to move to renewables as there are no renewable energy systems currently in the school. It is estimated that €1 million would be required to get the school to a building energy rating, BER, of B. It is not a lot of funding for a Government that will have a budget surplus. If there is no prospect of this primary school being included in the pathfinder programme, I would greatly appreciate if the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, could offer assistance and funding to resolve the problems I have listed here this morning. I am happy to forward the energy audits and reports the school has had carried out and pictures of the state of disrepair the school is in. It is up-to-date on its SEAI monitoring and reporting and has an energy team that is actively looking at ways to reduce energy usage. It is participating in the energy in education programme and doing its best to solve these problems. Considering it meets all the benchmarks set out by the Department to be considered for the pathfinder programme, I hope we can collectively assist the school in having the recommendations in the energy audits put into action as soon as possible.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue.

First, I will discuss the Department of Education and Youth school energy retrofit pathfinder programme. The Department is leading an ambitious sustainable agenda and has progressed a number of measures to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings as part of our work towards the 2030 and 2050 climate targets. Its performance has been recognised at national and international levels with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design, specification and delivery. The Department's policy is supported by a strong research programme, with 56 research programmes at various stages.

It is a priority for the Government to deliver on Ireland's ambitious climate agenda and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Department's school sector technical climate action roadmap which was published in 2023 and updated again last year, 2024. In that regard, the Department of Education and Youth and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment have developed a joint-funded school sector decarbonisation pathfinder programme. It is administered by the planning and building unit in the Department of Education and Youth and the SEAI in partnership with devolved delivery support from the Cork, Limerick and Clare, and Longford Westmeath education and training boards, ETBs.

The pathfinder programme facilitates research into a range of typical retrofit options for schools which will be tried and tested. It is providing valuable development information for a solution-driven strategy which will be founded on a solid evidence base that has proved the robustness and scalability of renewable solutions in the school sector. In this context, the pathfinder programme operates on a selection basis, rather than through an application process. The pathfinder programmes for 2025 have already been committed to. The general principles of the approach to school selection include that schools comply with their annual reporting obligations to the SEAI in respect of energy usage and energy monitoring and reporting scheme and that secondary schools demonstrate a strong holistic commitment to energy management practices through participation in the energy in education website portal and advice programme operated by the SEAI in collaboration with the Department of Education and Youth. The programme selection also seeks to include various cross-sections of school types and sizes, energy consumption profiles and different elements of construction type and heritage conservation requirements where specific learning is being targeted.

I should explain that applications for the provision of funding for issues related to an existing school can fall under a number of delivery mechanisms, which most frequently include the summer works and emergency works schemes. The purpose of the emergency works scheme is specifically to provide funding for unforeseen emergencies, thereby ensuring availability of funding for urgent works for schools in need of resources as a result of emergency issues.

Regarding the specific school in question, the emergency works team in the Department of Education and Youth is currently engaging with the school on a number of issues and the option remains open to the school to apply for funding for a number of areas of immediate concern through this mechanism. I urge the school and the Deputy to continue to liaise with the Department on the emergency works so we will be able to help the school with the issues the Deputy outlined.

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. The school has applied for emergency works funding. It is also in the process of applying for the climate action summer works scheme this year. However, getting multiple grants at various times and doing the required works piecemeal is time consuming for primary school teachers who are already overloaded. It is almost unfair to ask them to take that route, but they are actively doing so. Work that fixes one thing in one part of the school risks being undone by not having an all-encompassing plan of works carried out to resolve the issues in these very old school buildings. That is why the school is looking at the bigger picture of the pathfinder programme.

My contribution today probably only touched the surface of the issues in this school and what the dedicated team of staff is trying to keep at bay. On top of everything I outlined regarding the issues with mould, damp, leaks, insulation, heat and so on, I have not even scratched the surface on flooring replacement, painting and decorating, security access upgrades, toilet upgrades, tree maintenance, general maintenance and all the day-to-day issues that need to be addressed but that minor works grant do not come anywhere near covering, to be frank.

We have a very passionate and dedicated team of staff in this school trying to enhance the facilities there to provide a basic fit-for-purpose education setting for the children served. I already outlined that the school meets the criteria the Minister of State outlined in his response for the pathfinder programme, but the school is in desperate need of major assistance from the Minister of State's Department. Given everything I have detailed - and I understand the Minister of State gave a preprepared response - I ask for some positive interest from the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in considering this school or, at the very least, a commitment to engage with the school directly to find a pathway forward for all concerned. Funding for minor works and emergency works is just not touching the surface of what is required in this school.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Deputy for raising these issues. I note the concerns she has regarding the building in respect of damp, leaks, the toilet facilities and the other issues raised. I take them on board and I will be liaising with the Department in relation to what she outlined. It is greatly important. I understand and accept that St. Joseph's CBS in Drogheda is liaising with the emergency section of the Department. I emphasise it is important this communication channel is kept open so the best possible applications are made in relation to the immediate work we need to do with the challenges in the school. The Deputy mentioned issues with the boilers and their efficiency. She also mentioned the BER rating, and sometimes an awful lot of work must be done in this regard in schools. I do take on board, however, what she has said and I will liaise with the Department on the points she has raised with me. I encourage St. Joseph's CBS to continue to liaise with the Department on emergency funding to ensure we at least tackle the emergency issues in the school in the first instance and then continue to work with the school to try to find solutions to all the issues it has at the school gate.