Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. My request to the Minister of State concerns the need for the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the plans, proposed facilities and rationale for the site choice for the new school arising from the amalgamation of the Mercy and Presentation second level schools in Galway city. This is planned to start in September 2016. Since I tabled this matter last week, a number of parents and people throughout Galway city have contacted me to ask about this choice. When the amalgamation was first mooted in September 2009, the Mercy site was mentioned. When the children came back to school after the Christmas holidays, CEIST, the overarching body for Catholic education, under which the Mercy and Presentation schools exist, announced that the new site would be the Presentation site. I spoke to Dr. Marie Griffin last evening, so I have more information now than I had when I tabled the matter. There has been much surprise and perhaps shock because the site that was always understood to be on the cards was the Mercy site, but now it has been confirmed that it will be the Presentation site. I got some facts from Dr. Marie Griffin, so I want to update the record. She said the only site available in 2009 was the Mercy site, but when an independent evaluation was done in the past year, an independent consultancy chose the Presentation site as the best one because of the room for expansion. The Presentation site is bigger and now a nuns' garden will be included.

The Minister of State might be able to tell me a little more about the rationale for that choice of site. However, the overriding public concern is about facilities to meet students' needs. The current site, the Mercy site, has a state-of-the-art technology room and a gym. The Presentation site does not have a gym, although it fulfils the needs of the PE curriculum by using the pool in NUIG, the rowing club and a local hall. The main concern of parents is why the Mercy site has not been chosen, given that it has a gym and given the physical and health educational needs of students. We all know about the evidence around obesity, the need for physical exercise, the saying that a healthy body is a healthy mind, etc.

We have another example in Galway of the Salerno secondary school, which is also looking for a gym. The Department of Education and Skills expressly said that it was not its policy to build gymnasiums in existing schools. However, when I put this to CEIST yesterday evening, it said it could apply for a full-sized gym. I know it is the policy of the Department of Education and Skills to include a gym in new schools, but will there be a full-sized gym in the Presentation school - which, like the Salerno secondary school, is an existing school - to meet the children's needs?

We will now have a school with 500 children. I understand there is wonderful co-operation between the two schools and that they will start to increase the number of subjects on offer even before September 2016. By working together, both schools will be able to offer a greater number of subjects. However, as the Minister of State will know, there is an incredible loyalty to one's home school. There is a massive amount of change here, so let us encourage these two school communities by saying they will also have the best facilities. I understand a commitment has been given that a new technology room will be put into the Presentation school, but the gym is still an outstanding requirement.