Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. He knows the backdrop to the schools building programme. There are serious demand pressures exerted by a growing population such that we must provide approximately 15,000 extra places every year to meet increasing enrolments. On top of this, we replace about 5,000 places per annum, which absorbs virtually all of our budget. We are working hard to keep up with demographic growth pressures, not least in County Limerick, as recognised in the six-year construction programme.

Monaleen national school is a co-educational, Catholic primary school which caters for boys and girls from junior infants to sixth class. In recent years the school has experienced rapid growth in enrolments, increasing from 565 pupils in 2009 to 865 in 2016, an increase of 300. As a result, it has required considerable rented accommodation to meet demand. It is projected to grow to a 32-classroom school. I can confirm that it submitted an application to the Department to meet its accommodation needs. The application sought to replace the significant temporary accommodation, in addition to providing further accommodation to meet the increase in pupil enrolments.

To progress the project for the school, approval was granted in March 2015 for the provision of eight mainstream classrooms in the first phase, together with ancillary accommodation. Responsibility for delivery of the project was devolved to the school authority. The school was advised that the provision of further additional accommodation required to meet its needs would be progressed as phase 2 of the project.

The project for the school is contained in the Department’s six-year construction programme, 2016 to 2021. In the course of 2016 it emerged that there were significant complexities and constraints, as the Senator has described, presented mainly by the school site and the location of existing school buildings, as well as infrastructural deficiencies in existing accommodation. Accordingly, taking into account the need to keep the school in operation during the construction phases, it was considered to be more cost-effective to proceed with a single construction project in two phases, with a 16-classroom development being provided in each phase. The approach which is also likely to achieve economies of scale was advised and has been welcomed by the school authority. My Department will continue to liaise with the school concerning the project development and is committed to progressing the project as quickly as possible into the architectural planning process.

I again thank the Senator for raising the matter. As I said, the first phase involves the construction of a two-storey, 16-classroom school. Pupils will then be transferred into the new block from the 1977 building which will subsequently be demolished. A new two-story extension to phase 1 will then be constructed, creating a new 32-classroom school. The prefab accommodation will be demolished to enable external works to be completed. There is, therefore, a good programme of work which the Department is fully committed to progressing.