James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this item on the Adjournment this evening. There is an urgent need for the Minister for Education and Science to indicate when she will approve the application for a new school in Forgney, Moyvore, Mullingar, County Westmeath, because a replacement for the old wooden flat-roofed army-type structure, which is more than 40 years old, is badly needed. Forgney national school is a small two teacher school at the heart of the community in Forgney, County Longford. Although the postal address is in County Westmeath, this is a Longford school which is under the capable direction of its principal, Mr. Adrian Coughlan.

The school has been forced to operate in an antiquated wooden structure, which is now decaying rapidly, for the past 40 years. It is not a question of whether it should have a new building, but a case of when the new building will be constructed and the prospect of a new school is on the tongues of both the school's pupils and their parents. If anything were to happen to the temporary structure, the school would be forced to copy the hedge schools of old, as no other accommodation is available in the area. The pupils would be at the mercy of the elements and out in the cold.

Forgney is a developing catchment area on the outskirts of Ballymahon. The school is the only primary school in the parish and as such it is a focal point of parish activities. While the area has not been overdeveloped in recent years, it is beginning to attract some development.

Although it is a small school, land has been zoned for housing in the area, which will lead to an increase in the number of school-going children in coming years. One scheme, which is almost completed, is situated on the border of Forgney and Ballymahon and will significantly increase the school-going population which has a projected enrolment of more than 30 pupils by 2010. In general, the school caters for pupils within the catchment area of the parish of Forgney, with a few exceptions. At present, two of the enrolled pupils come from outside the parish. Based on births within the catchment area, enrolment should increase in the next few years, even without the increased numbers generated by people coming into the area.

Forgney is a close knit community, which takes pride in its parish and its parish school. The local football team is a source of great pride and commitment. A strong community spirit has been the driving force of Forgney's success. The local people have worked tirelessly and have vigorously campaigned for a new school building to replace the difficult physical conditions in which Forgney national school has provided an excellent education for the children of the area for many years. These children deserve the Minister of State's support, and I ask her to provide the necessary funding to give them the essential accommodation which this school urgently needs.

At present the school is not located in a prefabricated building. It is an old wooden army-type structure which was built more than 40 years ago. It has begun to decay and as the Minister of State is aware, when a building begins to do so, it can be claimed by the elements in storm conditions, etc. Hence, action is urgently needed and I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could, if possible, arrange to meet a deputation from the school's board of management with regard to prioritising a new school for the area.

Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Bannon for raising this matter on the Adjournment as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to this House the proposals of the Department of Education and Science with regard to the proposed building project at Forgney national school, Moyvore, Mullingar, County Westmeath. At the outset I wish to point out that modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, since taking office, this Government has shown a sincere determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

In this regard this Government has invested in the largest school building programme in the history of the State. Between 1998 and the end of 2004, almost €2 billion was invested in school buildings and approximately 7,500 large and small projects were completed in schools including 130 brand new schools and 510 large scale refurbishments and extensions. Indeed, funding for school building and renovation projects has increased five-fold since 1997. In 2006, £491 million will be spent on school building projects, compared to just £92 million in 1997. The 2006 allocation is an increase of over 9% in real terms on the 2005 allocation.

As the Senator will be aware, at the end of last year the Department of Education and Science outlined its spending plans for primary and post primary schools for 2006. With £491 million to be spent on school buildings, there will be over 1300 projects active in schools all over the country. This significant investment will allow the Department to continue to progress our major programme of school building and modernisation which includes improving equipment needed for new technologies and ICT.

Forgney national school has a staffing of a principal, one mainstream teacher and a shared resource teacher. The school's enrolment at 30 September 2005 was 19 pupils. An application for capital funding from the school has been assessed by officials in the school planning section of the Department. It has been assigned a band 2 rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. The Department's inspectorate has assessed the school's long term projected staffing as principal plus one mainstream assistant and has ruled out the possibility of amalgamation with neighbouring schools.

The next step is for a technical inspection to be carried out on the school building. This will be arranged as soon as it is feasible. Thereafter, a long term accommodation brief for the school will be drawn up and progress on the project will be considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme from 2006 onwards. I again thank the Senator for affording me the opportunity to outline to the House the current position in this case and the process which the school can expect to ensue as its project moves forward to delivery.

James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. There is an urgency to this project and in view of this I would appreciate if the technical inspection was undertaken as soon as possible to ensure that work on the new school is progressed. The existing school may not have the capacity to continue beyond another two years.

Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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As I indicated to the Senator, the technical inspection will take place as soon as it is feasible to do so.