Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking this matter. I ask the Minister for Education and Skills, in view of the current over-capacity and ongoing demand for school places in Calasanctius College in Oranmore, if she will outline the current status of the application for new accommodation, including the timeframe for delivery. This happens to be the local secondary school in Oranmore where I live.

I will outline the facts for the Minister of State. Every week I receive telephone calls from people living in the parish of Oranmore inquiring if their child will get a place in their local school. The school has 746 students and was built to accommodate 625. One of the saddest developments is that some children in the boys' school next door cannot get into the school because they are an eldest child and the current school policy favours siblings. The school would like to be able to accommodate all the children but there is an over-capacity issue.

The newly appointed principal of Calasanctius College wishes to place on record her thanks for the Department allocating €420,000 recently, under the devolved capital grant scheme, for the provision of six permanent classrooms, an office, store and linked corridor. Construction is under way on this project with a planned completion date of December 2010. Those six classrooms were to replace five prefabs that are currently housed in the local primary school and for one new classroom to take in up to 25 to 30 children this year who would otherwise have been excluded. That does not take into account the facilities that are needed for next year.

As to the remaining portion of the accommodation needs for a school of 850 or more students, the board has secured planning permission for phase two of the building project and is most anxious to proceed with this much-needed accommodation. It is for that portion that I am seeking funding and the timeframe for delivery.

As the Department is aware, the enrolment trend in the local area is upward. A 2007 survey was supplied to the Department, courtesy of local primary principals, and a survey was supplied by the community development association. It is noteworthy that the total population for the Oranmore area increased by 298% in ten years, almost 300%, with the population having increased from 1,672 in 1999 to 6,656 in 2010.

The current enrolment in Calasanctius College is 746 pupils. As indicated in the report from the Department of Education and Skills inspector, Martin Bryan, there is a serious under-provision of general purpose space, which poses a serious health and safety risk. General classrooms are in short supply as well as specialist accommodation in subjects such as science, which is now a core subject at junior certificate, materials technology - wood, and technical graphics.

The board of management agreed to accommodate an extra class group for first year for the 2010-2011 school year on receipt of confirmation of the provision of the extra six classrooms I spoke about, and it has been proactive in proceeding through the planning, tendering and engagement of a contractor with a view to completing this build by 2010. These classrooms will replace the fix existing prefabs. The current indications are that applications for enrolment for the 2011-2012 school year will well exceed capacity and the board is anxious to accommodate the needs of students from the catchment area who wish to enrol in Calasanctius College. The school's analysis of applications received to date also suggests that the provision of other second level school accommodation in areas such as Claregalway, where the provision of a new school is being spoken about in that area, will not have any effect on applications for places in Calasanctius College. This is how large the growth of population is in the area. The vast majority of applicants - 93% - for places in 2011-2012 are from the feeder primary schools for Calasanctius College and it is their traditional choice for second level education. Unfortunately, as matters stand, Calasanctius College will be unable to cater for all these local children.

I have more facts but I would like the Minister of State to tell me the news with regard to the funding and timeframe for delivery for the new section I spoke about in order that local children within the parish, the eldest children of new families, will be accommodated in their local school.