Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator must continue to pursue the matter. The efforts of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, have been extremely well received, especially the manner in which he is addressing the prefabs issue and schools in general. It is a breath of fresh air in County Meath and I have no doubt it is the same in Galway. I hope he will have more announcements to make this year. People like to have solid buildings rather than paying millions in rent for prefabs.

I will read the reply and if the Senator is not happy with it, she must continue to pursue the matter. If one gets involved in something, one must keep at it and it will work out in the end. I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, and thank the Senator for raising it as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position on the application for an extension at Scoil Mhuire, Clarinbridge and the band rating assigned to the application.

The major capital works application submitted by the board of management of Scoil Mhuire has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale projects and assigned a band rating of 2.1. The priority attaching to individual projects is determined by these criteria which were formulated following consultation with the education partners. There are four band ratings, each of which describes the extent of accommodation required and the urgency attaching to it. Band 1 is the highest priority rating and band 4 the lowest. Documents explaining the band rating system are also available on the Department's website on education.ie.

The board of management sought a review of the band rating on a number of occasions and more recently sought a further review as it remains of the view that the band rating should be 1.1. The main criterion which applies to a band 1.1 project is that the school is serving a rapidly developing area where either there is no existing school or where the existing provision is unable to meet the demand for places. The application for Scoil Mhuire does not meet the band 1.1 criterion and, having considered the matter, it is deemed that the band rating of 2.1 is still applicable. The school was advised of the outcome of the most recent review earlier this month.

The Senator may find it helpful if I set out the context within which the accommodation needs of schools must be considered in the future. Total enrolment is expected to grow by approximately 70,000 students between now and 2018 - by more than 45,000 at primary level and 25,000 at post-primary level. Second level enrolment is expected to continue to rise until at least 2024. The five year programme which the Minister announced earlier this year will provide more than 100,000 permanent school places, of which more than 80,000 will be new school places. The remainder will involve the replacement of temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation. To ensure every child has access to a school place, the delivery of projects to meet the increasing demographic demands will be the main focus for capital investment over the duration of the plan, in particular in those areas where it has been identified that most demographic growth will be concentrated. While Scoil Mhuire has experienced growth in pupil numbers since the application was submitted in 2000, the level of growth is not considered significant in the context of the projected numbers outlined above and it is in that context that the project has not been included in the five year plan. Given the scale of demand for capital investment to meet demographic growth, it has not been possible to appoint design teams for all projects announced in April 2007. An indicative timeframe for the progression of the project for Scoil Mhuire cannot be given at this time.

Recently the school advised the Department that it had temporary accommodation that was in poor condition. The Department has advised the school that it would be prepared to consider an application from it, should it require additional mainstream or special needs accommodation, or the replacement of temporary accommodation which is beyond its useful life. I, again, thank the Senator for allowing me the opportunity to outline the position.