David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. Last March I raised the matter of capital funding for Gaelscoil Philib Barún. I put on record the long campaign waged by the board of management, the principal and the pupils at the school to have prefabs, which are in place at the moment to teach most of the pupils, transformed into buildings so that pupils can have proper accommodation. The project upon which the school has embarked will provide a new eight-classroom replacement school, teaching accommodation for three full-time special education teachers and the appropriate ancillary accommodation, including a general-purpose room. A site of 2.5 acres has been identified. There is one building in the school but it is surrounded by prefabs. The response last year was that, because the Department is looking at growing needs and changes in demographics mean we need to ensure new schools are built, it was not possible to find replacements for prefabs in all schools across the State. Since then, there has been a site visit by the Minister and officials of the Department of Education and Skills, and positive indications were given to the principal and the board of management. A public meeting organised by the school and attended by most of the Oireachtas Members put pressure on us to raise the issues with the Minister.

The school opened in 1985 with 29 pupils. It was a one-teacher school and moved to new premises in 1989, when it had 65 pupils. In 1992, a site was identified in Tramore but in 1993 planning permission for the site was refused. In 1994, a second site was identified but in 1995 planning permission was refused again. In 1996, a series of meetings with council officials took place with a view to identifying a new site. In 1999, this happened, and in 2000 the first building was built. Since then, pupils have been taught in prefabs. In view of the history of the struggle of the school and its long association with trying to get new buildings built, and given that this has gone to the architectural design stage and that the majority of pupils in schools are being taught in prefabs, which cost more in terms of rental accommodation, it would make economic sense as well as good social sense to ensure pupils are taught in the best possible accommodation. Everyone accepts that we are in tight circumstances and that it is more difficult to provide capital funding for everything. However, when the major capital investment in schools was announced by the Minister last year, we can appreciate that the pupils, parents, principal and board of management of the school believed their school would be successful. Unfortunately, it was not. Since I raised this matter on the Adjournment last year, the Minister has visited the school and he knows at first hand the need for the prefabs to be replaced with new classrooms to ensure pupils are taught in the best way. I hope the Minister of State has good news. If he does not have good news about capital funding being made available so that the school can move to the building and planning stage, perhaps he can outline the future plans of the Department for the school.