Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

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

I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position on a proposed new school building for Summercove national school. The school has applied to the Department for large-scale capital funding for a new school building. The school is currently located on a half acre site and an alternative greenfield site is required for a new school In the context of the co-operation by the Department of Education and Skills with local authorities in identifying suitable sites for schools, the Department has worked with both the Office of Public Works and the local authority over a number of years in an effort to identify suitable sites for the construction of permanent accommodation for the school.

The Senator might find it helpful if I set out the context within which decisions relating to meeting the demographic challenge facing the education system in the coming years are made. Total enrolment in both primary and post-primary schools is expected to grow by almost 70,000 by 2018 - more than 45,000 at primary level and 25,000 at post-primary level. To ensure that every child has access to a physical school place, it is vital that there is sufficient school accommodation available to cater for these pupil enrolments. The delivery of building projects to meet the increasing demographic demands will be the main focus for capital investment over the duration of the five-year plan, particularly in those areas where it has been identified that most demographic growth will be concentrated. In this regard, Kinsale has not been identified as an area of significant demographic growth. Pupil enrolment projections for Kinsale indicate that enrolments will remain relatively stable for the foreseeable future.

Officials from the Department's building unit met with Summercove school authorities in January 2013, as Senator O'Donovan explained, to explore the options that might be open to the school to improve its existing accommodation. Subsequently, a member of the Department's technical staff visited the school to examine the possibility of addressing the school's most urgent needs. However, the option of providing some permanent accommodation to replace the school's temporary accommodation and to address traffic management on the site does not appear possible due to the restricted nature of the site. The Department accepts therefore that a new site is required. However, given the need to meet demographic growth, the delivery of new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand will be the main focus of the Department's budget for the coming years. In this regard, it is not possible to indicate at this point when a building project for the school will be progressed. I thank the Senator for allowing me the opportunity to outline the position.