James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for the Commencement matter. I pay tribute to his ongoing advocacy for his area. I have often heard him speak about his home county and home area and he is committed to working with all stakeholders there on this issue, as well as many others.

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. Laragh National School is the school we are focusing on. I credit the work of the board of management and the others the Senator mentioned who have really made efforts here.I do not think I have good news for the Senator but I might have some clarity which may assist in moving the matter onwards. The Senator asked for an update on the application. There is no live application at the moment. I will explain how that came to be. The scheme that has been referred to is the emergency works scheme, the purpose of which is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for pupils with special needs. An emergency is deemed to be a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, that is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action, and, in the case of a school, if not corrected, would prevent the school or part thereof from opening. Delivery of this scheme is managed on a devolved basis by the relevant school authority. The scheme is very particular and a school must require emergency works that fit certain narrow criteria, as I have outlined. As part of the application for that scheme and as part of the digital strategy, the application for emergency works are made online through a portal called Esinet. The Senator mentioned a desktop review. This is an online procedure that seems to be more efficient and faster in responding than other traditional procedures.

There are no live emergency works applications from the school at present. I will explain. An application was made and the most recent application from the school sought emergency works scheme funding for the completion of works to access routes that had been affected by road safety works conducted by the relevant local authority. I presume it is Cork County Council in this instance. The purpose of the scheme is to provide funding for emergency situations, but one of the criteria is that an emergency must be something that is sudden and unforeseen. It is the view of the Department that the works conducted by the local authority were not unforeseen and actually were planned. The works were the opposite in that they were very foreseeable. The works should have afforded consideration of the access routes as part of the project brief. If there are negative consequences, albeit unintended, arising for the school, they should be addressed to the local authority first and foremost as the agency that performed the works in the area that has led to this issue. It really goes back to the local authority rather than the Department to see whether it can remedy it or at least engage on it.

It is seen that the emergency works scheme providing additional funding to remedy this situation would not be an appropriate or correct use of that scheme in this instance. Due to that set of circumstances, the application was refused and that is why it is no longer live. An appeal was made on that. The school appealed the decision but the additional information provided still supports the view that the works were conducted by the local authority to address road safety concerns, which is welcome indeed, but it actually created or contributed to the current issues and, therefore, the issue that arises is the creation of the local authority. It is something that would have been foreseeable. One might say that perhaps better planning or foresight might have mitigated that in the first instance through the local authority, but it is not an issue that is suitable for the emergency works scheme or for the Department of Education to come to the rescue on. That being the case, the decision was upheld. It may not be good news for the Senator but it is news and it is clarity, I hope.