Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I thank Senator Michael D'Arcy for raising the matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and to clarify the current position in regard to the application for major capital funding from Scoil Ghormáin Naofa, Castletown, Gorey, County Wexford.

The school has a core staffing level of a principal and four mainstream teachers, together with two support staff. This staffing level is based on the school's 2010 enrolment of 126 pupils. The school authority submitted an application for major capital funding for an extension and refurbishment works to the Department. As part of the assessment process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. A building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. The project for Scoil Ghormáin Naofa was assigned a band two rating.

The Department of Education and Skills is forecasting an increase of more than 43,000 primary pupils and 24,900 post-primary pupils by the start of the 2017-18 school year. In order to meet the needs of our growing population of school-going children, the Department must establish 40 new schools, as well as extending a number of existing schools in areas where demographic growth has been identified. The delivery of these new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, will be the main focus of the Department's budget for the coming years.

While enrolments at Scoil Ghormáin Naofa have increased by 21% in the past five years, it is not envisaged that the school will be extended to meet the demographic growth to which I referred. However, the Department accepts that the school has temporary accommodation which, while it is relatively new, will in time need to be replaced should enrolment remain at current levels. The school has benefited from various grants amounting to in excess of €90,000 in recent years to carry out various improvement works.

It is not possible to advance all applications for capital funding concurrently. All school building projects, including a project for Scoil Ghormáin Naofa, will be advanced incrementally over time within the context of the funding available. However, in light of current competing demands under the Department's capital budget, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time. I thank the Senator again for the opportunity to reply to the matter.