Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the attendance by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, to discuss this urgent and serious issue related to the building section of the Department.

In 1996, the Department of Education amalgamated two national schools in Ballinasloe, St. Grellan's boys' school, which dates to 1937 and the opening of which my father remembers as he was one of the first students, and the Sisters of Mercy junior infants' and girls' national school, which was my primary school. Scoil an Chroí Naofa was created in 1996 with an understanding from the Department of Education that a new school building would be provided to accommodate the children. The school, the sole DEIS band 1 school in County Galway, which has more than 280 pupils, is still awaiting a new school building 25 years later. A design team was appointed. Planning permission was issued in 2011, extended in 2016 and is due to expire in November 2021. There is still no school and no sign of any building works.

The stakeholders involved are the Department of Education, which is responsible for the delivery of this project, the Department's building section, the design team, the school's board of management and the local authority. There has been a shocking lack of project management and oversight here. What has been going on for the past 25 years? What has been going on for the past five years? Why are children and teaching staff freezing in buildings dating from the 1930s and 1960s? How is this school fit for purpose? It is 2021 and with each delay or failure to make a decision, the building section and Department have somehow pushed this project off the priority list. That should no longer be the case.

There have been five boards of management - each sits for four years - and five principals over this timeframe. They have struggled to deliver this project and get it across the line. How many principal officers have come and gone in the Department of Education, yet no school has been built? In 2016, the Department indicated in writing that the project was going to construction with planning approval. Why did the school not proceed at that time?

Scoil an Chroí Naofa is a fantastic school with dedicated and committed teaching staff and special needs assistants, SNAs. Like many other schools, it is opening its doors today. The school takes children from all over Galway, Roscommon and Westmeath. It has an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, class now in a prefabricated building and two language classes. Children with special needs are crying out for a place and there is no space. There has not been space for 25 years.

There are five stages in construction and there is a guide to timelines for school buildings.As a newly elected councillor in 2019, I worked with parents, families and teachers to drive this project. I was of the view that it was moving to stage 3 but that is not the case now. The five stages comprise: stage 1, preliminary design, which takes roughly six months; stage 2a, development of sketch design; stage 2b, detailed design, which takes a year; stage 3, tender action, evaluation and award, which also takes a year; stage 4, construction, which takes two years; and stage 5, handover of works and final account. By this reckoning, the process takes five and half years in all. After 20 years, however, we are still at stage 2b, which involves obtaining all statutory approvals and preparing a set of fully detailed tender documents and an accurate pre-tender cost plan. Why has this not been completed when planning was granted in 2011? Who is accountable for these delays? Who is reviewing the monthly progress updates from the design team and who has been paying this design team for over 20 years? Right now, we need action for the almost 300 children who are in this school and who will not see a new building completed. The children in the area who have been waiting for an ASD unit will be obliged to wait for at least another four years, even if we move the project to stage 3 without any delays.

Some €740 million was allocated in respect of school building projects under Project Ireland 2040. We to see need to see urgent action in this case. I ask the Minister of State to address the following issues on behalf of the Minister? What is the current status of the design and school building project? Who is on the appointed design team? What is the position as to 2016 planning permission, which is null and void and which cannot be extended because there are no building works going on? What is the timeline for the e-tender process for construction of a new two-storey primary school building? Who on earth is going to be the senior principal officer to be assigned with sole responsibility for delivering this project?

There are serious issues at play here. I appreciate the Minister of State’s commitment to special needs and inclusion. This is the only DEIS band 1 school in County Galway. DEIS means delivering of equality of opportunity in schools. How are we treating these children equally?