Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am taking the debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I thank Senator Reilly for raising the issue as it provides us with the opportunity to clarify the current position in relation to the major capital project for Holy Family Special School, Cootehill, County Cavan. The Senator will be aware of the demographic challenge facing the education system in the coming years. Primary enrolments, which have already risen substantially in recent years, are projected to rise by almost 25,000 pupils by 2017 and will continue to rise to a peak of over 574,000 in 2018. 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 existing schools in areas where the most significant demographic growth has been identified. The delivery of these new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, remains the main focus of the Department's budget for the coming years.

Holy Family School, Cootehill, is a multi-denominational special needs school catering for pupils aged four to 18 years with moderate learning disabilities, severe or profound learning disabilities, and pupils with autism. Enrolments at the school for 2015-16 are 155 pupils, representing an increase of 24% over the past five years.

The brief for the project for Holy Family School, Cootehill, is to provide a new 21-classroom special school and appropriate ancillary accommodation. Planning permission, fire safety certification and disability access certification have already been obtained for this project on the basis of the original brief for a 21-classroom school. In order to complete design stages of the project it was necessary, earlier this year, to appoint a replacement mechanical and electrical engineer to the design team. However, a recent request to increase the brief to provide for an additional five permanent classrooms has been submitted by the board of management. A more detailed report on this proposed increase to the brief has been requested by the Department and, upon receipt, this proposal will be considered in the context of the potential impact on the progress of the current project. While the Department is positively disposed towards the increase, the additional five classrooms will, if approved, require an additional planning application and this will need to be further discussed with the school.

Thereafter, subject to no further issues arising, the project will progress to the conclusion of stage 2b, detailed design, with the completion of tender documents. Due to competing demands on the 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 this project in the five-year construction programme announced in 2012, as Senator Reilly acknowledged in her submission. However, school building projects, including the Holy Family School project, which have been initiated but not included in the 2012 five-year construction programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to the Department in the future.