Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Norma Foley, who is otherwise engaged. I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides the Department with the opportunity to clarify the current position of St Anne’s Secondary School, Rosanna Road, Tipperary town. The answer I have is largely from the Department of Education. The school meals programme is largely administered by the Department of Social Protection. I wanted to put that proviso at the start of my response.

St Anne’s Secondary School is a girls-only multi-denominational post-primary school under the patronage of the Catholic Education - an Irish Schools Trust, CEIST. The school is one of three post-primary schools in the Tipperary school planning area. The school has an enrolment of 292 students in the school year 2023-24. I can confirm that St. Anne’s Secondary School submitted an application for additional school accommodation under the Department of Education’s additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and accommodation for students with special educational needs is available to cater for students enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation or other schools in the area.The school’s application was for capital funding for a physical education, PE, hall and changing facilities, a lift and a specialised room to cater for the subjects of technology and graphics. Investment and expenditure on PE halls is an element of the overall expenditure and investment in the school building programme. The provision of rooms and PE halls at primary and post-primary level respectively and outdoor hard play areas form part of the accommodation brief for all new school buildings or where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school.

Since 2020, the Department of Education has invested in the region of €3.5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of more than 690 school building projects and with construction currently under way on approximately 300 other projects. School building projects in construction involve an overall State investment of more than €1.2 billion. There are also 200 modular accommodation projects that are very well advanced for delivery or at construction stage. This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government’s strong track record in delivering and providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.

A further strengthened focus on refurbishment of existing school stock will have different strands and will include a PE build and modernisation programme which will enable students in post-primary schools to have access to appropriate facilities to support PE provision, particularly in the context of the roll-out of PE as a leaving-certificate subject. Enhanced and modernised PE facilities will also provide important amenities for local communities. However, the main focus of the Department’s capital funding over the past decade and for the coming period is on provision of critical additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics and children with special education needs. The Department is required to manage the overall school building programme so that we target and prioritise areas that are under greatest pressure for additional school places. This reflects the Department’s fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child. The overall position with regard to potential modernisation and replacement of existing school infrastructure will be kept under review as capital funding allocations for future years are clarified. The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform will be engaging with Departments on NDP allocations for the period 2026 to 2028 over the coming months, with allocation decisions expected during the first half of 2024.

I can confirm that this school’s application under the ASA scheme is currently under consideration, taking into account the school’s immediate and future needs for essential accommodation. A determination will issue to the school authorities shortly.

In regard to the second application referenced, the school meals programme currently provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations benefiting 260,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. This programme is funded and administered by the Department of Social Protection and officials in that Department have been asked to liaise with the school with respect to its application.