Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Ba mhaith liom plé a dhéanamh ar Phobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola ar an Fhál Carrach. Seo scoil atá i mo cheantar féin. Chuaigh mo chuid deartháireacha ag an scoil blianta ó shin agus tá an scoil i ndrochdhóigh; ní dabht ar bith fá dtaobh de sin. Tá iarratas i ndiaidh iarratas curtha isteach ag an bpríomhoide agus obair na gcapall déanta ag an fhoireann ansin ó thaobh an oideachais atá siad ag cur ar fáil do na céadta dalta atá ansin, anuas ar an scoil a choinneáil go maith. É sin ráite, ní féidir níos mó a dhéanamh mar go bhfuil fadhbanna móra sa scoil sin. Tá an t-uisce ag sileadh tríd an díon. Ní i spota amháin atá sé seo ag tarlú ach ar fud na scoile. Tá fadhb ann ó thaobh an tséarachais de agus caithfear na cláir taobh isteach den scoil a thógáil agus rods a chur síos leis an tséarachais a chur trí na píopaí. Tá fadhbanna ó thaobh easpa spáis ann agus fadhbanna eile fosta sa scoil sin. An rud atá de dhíth ná scoil úr. Níl dabht ar bith fá dtaobh de sin agus caithfear scoil úr a thabhairt don cheantar seo láithreach.

I want to raise the urgent need for capital works at Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola in Falcarragh, County Donegal, a school I visited recently and which, without question, is one of the most in need of immediate investment anywhere in the State. The Government has known this for years because the principal has submitted application after application to the Department in relation to all the issues going on in the school. The staff, the principal, the team and the board of management deserve all the praise. I have seen the positive educational environment that has been fostered there by the staff and I have seen the excitement from students but they are doing that in a very difficult state in terms of the school property they are in. I have walked through the corridors of the school and it is unacceptable in this day and age, in 2025, for children to be educated in such a building.

There are multiple unpredicted leaks. I am not talking about small leaks here. I am talking about leaks so bad that you could take a shower under them. There are big bins trying to capture the water all over the school every time it rains. They are in classrooms, in science classrooms, in halls, in toilets. It is just all over the place. We have issues with the damp and mould that are affecting some classrooms to such an extent that some classrooms have to be locked and can no longer be used. If the Minister of State walked into them, she would understand; just the smell and the damp mean that they are not any way suitable any more. We have prefabs that were provided back in 1982. They are in some cases falling apart. The walls are coming off. A huge amount of work is being done by maintenance to try to keep them in proper order. There is a hole in the floor with a big 8 in x 4 in sheet covering it up. There are serious issues going on and the school is trying to do the best they can.

There are serious drainage issues in the school. Between two and three times every week, they have to lift the manholes in the school because they are blocked. Can the Minister of State just imagine kids running around, including kids with special needs and sensory issues, and somebody has to lift up that manhole and use rods to release excrement? It is not acceptable in this day and age, and it has happened over and over again. All the toilets have to be moved outside the school; there is no other way to fix that problem. There are serious fire issues. I can put my hand through the different walls. There are no fire blocks. You would never be allowed to build a school like that today.

There are so many other issues. There is a need for an additional ASD room, a need for a sensory room, and there is so much work that need to be done, including electrical works. What is needed here is a new school, a school that actually meets the needs of the children in the year of 2025. They have the land. It is available to them. This is extremely urgent and I am asking the Minister of State to answer a couple of questions. What is the status of the applications they have made? Will the Department consider providing a new school building? Will the Department prioritise Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola for capital works? Crucially, because this will change everything, I am inviting the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State to Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola. Once they see it with their own eyes, they will be very convinced that there is only one option here and that is that we need capital works for a new school on this site.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Helen McEntee, who is unavailable. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. It gives me an opportunity to discuss the current position with Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola. The Deputy will be aware that the school is a DEIS post-primary school in Falcarragh, County Donegal, and the school had an enrolment in September 2024 of 417 pupils. The school is located in the Falcarragh school planning area and is the only secondary school in the area.

The Department of Education and Youth is in receipt of three applications under the additional school accommodation scheme and three for the emergency works scheme from Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola. All applications from schools for major capital works are considered against a range of factors. The priority for the Department of Education and Youth continues to be the provision of required additional school places to meet demographic requirements as well as to provide for children with special educational needs. In County Donegal alone, in the period 2020 to 2024, the Department invested €209.6 million on projects in construction, projects in the pipeline and completions. There were 64 projects completed in Donegal in the period 2020 to 2024. There are currently 17 projects in construction.

The Department of Education and Youth is required to manage the allocated capital funding across all schools in the country, and the Department's approach is to maximise the use of existing capacity in schools and, in tandem with this, to manage the progression of the existing pipeline of projects within available budgets and in line with the Government's infrastructure guidelines. This allows the Department to keep a strong focus on the provision of additional capacity to cater for demographics, new housing developments and the roll-out of additional special classes for children with additional needs. This approach reflects the Department's fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child.

The pace of delivery of additional residential development in school planning areas, along with updated enrolment data and demographic data, will be kept under review and will inform the timing of school requirements. The Department of Education and Youth will continue to liaise with local authorities in respect of the projected completion of planned residential developments. The Department of Education and Youth is examining demographic requirements across the country, including in the context of current and planned residential development activity, and any major capital works for Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola will be considered in this context.

The purpose of the Department of Education and Youth's additional school accommodation scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special educational needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year where the need cannot be met by the schools, existing accommodation or other schools in the area.

To answer one of the Deputy's specific questions around the current position in relation to the emergency works applications for Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola, there are three emergency works applications at assessment stage - mechanical and electric works, roof works and life safety systems. Those applications from the school in question are being considered by Department of Education and Youth officials and the school authority will be notified of that decision directly. I can confirm that the Department is in receipt of those three applications under the additional school accommodation scheme for capital works for the school. The school submitted an application for additional school accommodation in 2022 seeking a new-build and a purpose-built classroom for students with special educational needs. Two further applications were submitted in 2024 for special educational needs accommodation and prefab replacement. Modular accommodation for a classroom for students with special educational needs was approved in 2022 and has been delivered. I will raise the issue with the Minister for education as well.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The community in Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola have been very patient. The staff and the board of management have been very patient. They have made their case time and again but patience is running out. What the school needs now is clear. It needs decisive action from the Department. The Minister of State talked about the six applications that are in and there could be more going in. The problem here is not only that this school needs emergency works but that there is a case for a new school building, given the overall works that have to be carried out. There is a new roof to be done and there is a whole issue, as I said, whereby the toilets will all have to be moved outside. There are serious issues with the prefabs and there are fire safety issues. This school needs a new build. The roof is leaking in multiple areas. Mould and damp are spreading. Drainage is failing in the bathroom. For students and staff, this is what is happening every day. They are moving buckets around to try to make sure that classrooms are available to teach in. There are dehumidifiers moving around from classroom to classroom.

Despite all of this, the staff continue to do absolutely outstanding work, providing first-class education in conditions that are completely substandard. They should not have to patch up ceilings or shift classrooms just to teach. Their professionalism and commitment are remarkable, but they have been let down by the system. I am asking the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, to come to Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola. That answer is no good for us. It is the same answer I got earlier this year and last year. We have been raising this issue for years now. It is not acceptable. I would not want my child taught in that school. I would not want a child with special needs or sensory issues taught in that school. It is not fair. I walk into schools right across Donegal and it is brilliant to see the new school buildings and the environment that these kids are being taught in. Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola deserves the same. The classrooms are also substandard. The sizes are no longer in keeping with the with the recommendation.

The Department can look at the six applications that are in. It will cost a fortune to do every single one of them and it still will not fix the problems overall. What is needed here is to go down to the school, recognise the severity of it and look at a new build on a greenfield site that is available to the school in that area. I would seriously consider it. If the Department looks at these individual applications in silos, it is missing the wood for the trees.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I will raise the matter with the Minister, Deputy McEntee. As I have stated, my understanding is those applications from Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola for additional accommodation are being considered. The school will be contacted directly once a decision is made. I assure the Deputy that the Department of Education and Youth will advance this matter as quickly as possible and it is very conscious that where additional accommodation is required, a significant lead-in time is necessary for a variety of reasons.