Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the strategy of the Department of Education and Science for capital investment in education projects and the current position with regard to capital funding for Mount Sion secondary school, Waterford.

Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, since taking office, the Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

The Government has dramatically increased investment in the schools building programme from just over €90 million when it came into office to €540 million this year. Under the lifetime of the national development plan, almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools.

This year, more than €300 million will be invested in large-scale building projects, concentrated mainly on the provision of school accommodation in rapidly developing areas. This level of funding will facilitate construction work on more than 150 large-scale projects which will deliver more than 15,000 additional permanent places in new schools and the extension and modernisation of facilities in existing schools for more than 45,000 pupils. It will also enable the purchase of sites to facilitate the smooth delivery of the schools building programme, again with the focus being on site requirements in rapidly developing areas. The balance will be used to fund the other elements of the schools building programme such as the summer works scheme, the small schools scheme, the permanent accommodation scheme, etc. In total more than 1,500 school building projects will be delivered in 2007.

With regard to Mount Sion secondary school, the Department is in receipt of an application for major capital funding from the management authority of that school. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale works and has been assigned a band 2 rating. The Department recognises the historic significance of the school in the provision of education by the Christian Brothers in the country and accepts that the building is not in a good condition. In this regard, a technical inspection recommended that consideration be given to the construction of a new school on the site rather than refurbishment of the existing school. However, the site is very difficult and a significant amount of abnormal costs would arise in its development. Progress on the proposed works was, however, put on hold due to the declining enrolments at the school. The Department is concerned about this and particularly the school's ability to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum.

The possibility of an amalgamation with the second Christian Brothers school in Waterford, which also has declining numbers, has been mooted. The Department awaits clarification from the trustees of their position on this proposal. When this is known it will consider how to proceed, taking into account the long-term post primary school accommodation requirements for Waterford City.

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this matter.