Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, to the House.

The issue I raise concerns two special schools in Ballina, County Mayo. This is an ongoing issue which I have been slow enough to raise, but there has been no progress on it over the past few years.

There are two special schools involved, and because of time constraints I will outline some of the difficulties in just one of them. The matter has been before the Department of Education and Science for some time. Meetings began in 1998, so that the issue is as old as the Good Friday Agreement, with even less progress. It is quite unacceptable that the matter is being kicked back down the line.

These schools have been left behind because they have not got political clout or as much ability to apply pressure as other places might have. It would be scandalous if they were omitted from the Minister's list, which is still unavailable. We are close to the end of the second month of the year and we still do not know the building programme and budget and what projects will go ahead this year.

I am talking of two special schools and I will outline the situation in one, St. Nicholas's school. The school has 17 pupils ranging in age from four to 17, with all sorts of difficulties including autism and various other multiple difficulties which the Minister of State would well understand.

Any person will respond to the following. The school in question is a two-storey, semi-detached house. Only six of the 17 pupils are physically capable of climbing the stairs so the majority are taught downstairs. This is a quite impossible situation for parents, pupils, teachers or the school board. It is grossly unfair and there is a lack of equity about it. The rooms are hopelessly inadequate for the needs of the school, particularly in view of the increase in the number of pupils with multiple disabilities and their need for equipment, for access to the curriculum, for seating, handling and movement. It is impossible to provide adequately for those needs in the present situation. Safety issues are involved, including a fire issue. I am sure the Minister of State can easily visualise the situation when she considers how such a school can be run with children with profound needs and high levels of dependency, in what is effectively a private dwelling with "pretend" classrooms.

I asked a school board member and some of the staff to tell me how the school worked. One class has five pupils with profound difficulties of various types. Three pupils are taught in a downstairs room which is a small converted garage. All three are completely blind, and two fully physically dependent, necessitating wheelchairs, bean bags, mats and so on, for access and care. That description is probably enough to visualise the scene. That is just one class in the school.

The three blind pupils require nappy changing but access to the changing room is through two other classrooms. One can imagine the disruption, with blind children who need full support all the time, while the other children also need to be looked after. There are assistants to help the teachers but no teaching is going on if the teacher is involved with one of the pupils in this way. He or she cannot spend time with the others, who are then left to be helped by the assistants in whatever way they can. The assistants also need support.

This is a one-to-one situation. The pupils who need to be changed must either go through the classrooms to the other side of the building or exit the front door, cross the garden and enter through another door. These are blind, highly-dependent children who need nappies changed. At the same time the teacher is expected to teach the older pupils in the only other available room, a small bedroom upstairs.

The situation is intolerable for all concerned. The teacher is literally expected to be in two places at once. The lack of space combined with the needs of the children makes effective classroom management almost impossible. The Minister of State will understand that I could give her further examples and that this is just one. I know she will respond in a humane way to the situation. Negotiations with her Department began in 1998 and it was agreed shortly afterwards that the two special schools in the area would share facilities in the same building but would continue to exist as separate schools in order to facilitate the diverse needs of the pupils, who have a wide range of disabilities, needs and dependencies, some of which are multiple. All that needs to be tackled at the same time.

In March 1999, planning was initiated and a design team was appointed. In October 1999, the design brief was received from the team and sent to the Department of Education and Science, which agreed on matters such as location. The land became the property of Western Care in November 2000. In January 2002, a meeting was held in Tullamore at which the chairpersons and principals were assured that the project would then go ahead as planned.

There has been no progress since then. A revised design brief was sent to the Department and in October 2002 the schools were informed that the project was ready to move to stage 1 or 2 of planning. The design team was instructed accordingly. The design, accepted by the Department, consisted of a new building to accommodate both schools with a shared area for facilities in between. However, we are still awaiting instruction from the Department to continue to the next stage. There is a problem with health and safety and humanity which in St. Nicholas's school has reached crisis point. There must be immediate action.

Can anyone give me a reason that school cannot be a number one priority for the Department of Education and Science? How can we ask the staff and pupils to face into another year of difficulties? Even if the go-ahead were given now, it would still take a certain period of time to complete the school, so it faces another two years of trouble. If it does not get something now it is like facing an eternity of waiting. It is grossly unfair. I appeal to the Minister of State to do the decent thing and give the go-ahead to the project.

Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister, Deputy Hanafin, apologises for not being able to be present for the debate. She is, however, taking a particular interest in this case.

I thank Senator O'Toole for bringing it to the attention of the Seanad. He made a plea for the dignity of the students and highlighted the fact that some if not all of them have considerable or multiple disabilities. From his experience in the area of education and his time with the INTO, he has a particular understanding of educational issues. It is clear he has a particular interest in this case.

I am pleased to advise the Senator that the design process is already under way for a new school building which will house both St. Nicholas's and St. Dymphna's special schools. The brief comprises all necessary accommodation to enable the schools to operate in a modern learning environment. Each school will have distinct areas for its own classrooms and staff. However, specialist accommodation, including a GP room, kitchen-dining areas, occupational-speech therapy-medical rooms and other specialist rooms, such as a woodwork room and living skills room, will be shared between the schools as a total of only 46 pupils attend both. The Senator already indicated that there has been a coming together of the schools in terms of sharing facilities. However, clearly there is a need to cater further for the needs of the students.

This project is for schools catering for children with special needs and accordingly it has been given a band 1.2 rating by the Department of Education and Science in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects in 2005. I am anxious that the design of this project will be progressed as speedily as possible and I understand that the Department's professional and technical staff will shortly be issuing comments to the design team in respect of to the proposed design.

The design of this project was not sufficiently advanced to be included in the recent announcement of the 122 school building projects which will proceed to tender and construction over the next 12 to 16 months. However, the Department's planning and building unit will keep the progress of this project under review and it will be considered in the context of any future announcement of projects proceeding to tender and construction.

I again thank the Senator for raising this matter. Although it does not strictly come within my remit as Minister of State, I will bring it to the attention of the building unit and ask that it be given immediate consideration. I am aware that this project is under review by the Department and the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, has taken a particular interest in it.

Joe O'Toole (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I feel worse now than I did at the outset because it appears that it will be 18 months before the project will even obtain approval to proceed to construction. That is an impossible situation. As the Minister of State indicated, comments on the project are being awaited from the technical team. However, it has been with the team for a long period and there is no excuse for the delay with the exception of there being a political view that the project should not be advanced. As a public representative, I am embarrassed that we cannot take action in order to cater for the needs of these children. I appreciate the Minister of State's commitment to communicate with me further and I will contact her in the coming weeks in order that we progress the matter.

Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I would welcome any further information the Senator could bring to bear on this issue. He indicated his concern that schools of this kind may not have the necessary political clout. I wish to put his mind at rest in that regard. Cases such as that to which he refers are of significant importance to us in terms of identifying what we might do to alleviate the great difficulties experienced by students and teaching staff. Like the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, I would not entertain a situation where political clout might win the day. There is a set of criteria to be followed and we want to be fair to all.