Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, Minister for Education and Skills.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter of the building project for Dún Dealgan national school, Dundalk, County Louth, as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects over the next five years and to clarify the current position of the project.

I shall first set out the context within which decisions have been taken and in which the meeting of accommodation needs of schools must be considered over the coming years. Overall enrolment figures are expected to grow by around 70,000 students between 2012 and 2018 - by over 25,000 at post-primary and 45,000 at primary level. Post-primary level enrolment is expected to continue to rise until at least the year 2024. In order to meet the needs of our growing population of school going children, the Department must establish new schools as well as extending or replacing 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 capital budget for the coming years.

The five year programme was announced in March 2012. It will provide over 100,000 permanent school places, of which over 80,000 will be new school places. The remainder will involve the replacement of temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation. The project for Dún Dealgan national school entails the construction of an extension to the existing school of approximately 495 sq. m plus associated refurbishment and site works. The school is a four teacher school which has seen enrolments remain relatively consistent over recent years with 87 pupils enrolled in 2000-01 and 96 pupils in the current school year. The school has also received sanctions amounting to ¤175,000 under various summer works grants over that period.

The project is at an early stage of architectural planning. The project design team was appointed in early 2012 and the board of management was authorised to commence architectural planning. The stage 1 report, which is the initial sketch design stage, was completed and reviewed late last year and the project was authorised to complete stage 2A which is the developed sketch design. In the approval letter which issued on 1 October 2012 the board of management was informed that: "[A]s this project is not on the 5 year construction programme, the Department would advise the Board of Management against entering into arrangements which are time bound until authorisation is given to proceed to tender following completion of the Stage 2B report". My Department is awaiting submission of the stage 2A report from the board of management and its design team. Due to competing demands on my Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements it was not possible to include the project in the five year construction programme announced earlier this year. Schools which have not been included in the five year programme but which had previously been announced for initial inclusion in the building programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of further funds being available to my Department in future years. The project for Dún Dealgan national school remains available to be considered for progression in that context.

I thank the Senator for allowing me the opportunity to outline the position and I will pass on her concerns to the Minister.