Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter for the Adjournment. I have been asked on behalf of the board of management, the management and the staff of St. Mark's junior school in Springfield in Tallaght to raise an issue concerning its accommodation. Recently, the school made an application to the Department of Education and Science for two prefabs. Before Easter, to the astonishment of the school, the request for the additional accommodation was turned down.

This is a growing school with 28 teachers, two speech and language therapists, a total of 30 full-time teachers, but only 24 classrooms. These are the circumstances that teachers and pupils must face every day. In the past five years, there has been a growth of 30 to 50 extra new pupils attending the school each year. Six of the 24 classrooms have been divided into two to create further accommodation. As a result, the school has lost its library because of the need to double-up on classroom space.

The two existing prefabs in the school are 20 years old. They have been deemed derelict and unfit for habitation by the environmental health officer. The provision of accommodation for the breakfast and after-school clubs has been put at risk as a result of the Department's failure to provide this temporary accommodation. Without prefabs next year, the school will likely lose its PE hall. The Minister of State will appreciate this is essential infrastructure in a modern educational set-up. The school is situated close to a rapidly expanding area. New apartment blocks in the vicinity of the school have put additional pressure for school places. Will the Minister re-examine the school's request for the two prefab buildings? They are only temporary and will not solve the problem in the long term. However, their provision would give some respite to the management and staff who provide an excellent education facility for children in the area.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, with an opportunity to outline the position of the Department with regard to primary school places in the Tallaght area and the position of an application for funding from St. Mark's junior school for additional accommodation.

At the end of last year the Department outlined its spending plans for primary and post-primary schools for 2006. With €500 million to be spent on school buildings, over 1,300 projects will be active in schools. This significant investment will allow the Department to continue to progress its major programme of school building and modernisation which includes improving equipment needed for new technologies and ICT.

St. Mark's junior school submitted an application to the Department of Education and Science for capital funding under the 2006 additional accommodation scheme. Following an examination of the application, a decision was taken not to approve funding for the accommodation requested because there is ample availability of vacant accommodation in schools within a reasonable distance of St. Mark's. The Department requires these to be fully used before it can consider providing extra accommodation in the area.

The Department's main responsibility is to ensure schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places. While this may result in pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice, the approach ensures the use of existing accommodation is maximised. The Department cannot justify unwarranted expenditure while vacant accommodation exists. It cannot justify the continued development of one school over and above others in the same area when all are funded by the State to provide a particular service between them.

The Department of Education and Science is aware of significant developments planned for the Tallaght area. The school planning section is liaising with South Dublin County Council regarding future school requirements. If the school wishes, it can submit an application for capital funding for permanent accommodation. This application would be considered in the context of a strategic overview of long-term requirements for the area. The Department will be factoring in the extent of long-term provision required to be provided by St. Mark's junior school as it reviews ongoing developments in the area.

I thank the Senator once again for raising the matter and affording the opportunity to explain why the application from St. Mark's junior school was refused. The long-term accommodation requirements of the school will be factored into future plans for the Tallaght area. The school was notified in March that its application would not be approved. No response has been received by the school planning section since then.

James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House this evening to take this motion. On numerous occasions I have raised the issue of Lanesboro Community College, County Longford, and the need for the Minister for Education and Science to provide an urgent and detailed update on her specific commitment to the refurbishment work at the college in light of the inordinate delay in bringing the built environment of this school to an acceptable standard in the interests of the safety of pupils and staff and to facilitate the advancement of the educational process.

This is the third time I have raised the matter of Lanesboro Community College on the Adjournment. The previous Minister for Education and Science assured me that Lanesboro would be included in the school building programme for 2005 but this did not happen.

The built environment in Lanesboro Community College is appalling. The principal, staff, pupils and board of management have worked together in conditions that most of us would regard with horror. Not only have they worked in substandard conditions for years but they have done so while providing outstanding educational opportunities for their pupils. How long does the Minister expect them to continue to perform miracles?

The educational process is assisted by the built environment and lack of facilities in this day and age could seriously impede pupil progress. The students at Lanesboro deserve more, as do the hard working principal, staff and board of management. There is growing discontent among parents that the refurbishment of the college has taken so long to come to fruition and because the project has not been progressed to its final stage. There is also grave concern for the safety of all concerned as some of the building is in a dangerously substandard condition.

Thankfully, in the interests of health and safety, the electrical installations were replaced last year under the summer works scheme. Despite this work, €900,000 is still required, as per the Department of Education and Science's estimate, to bring the school to an acceptable standard.

Since I raised this issue, there has been a further grant increase by the Department but to quote an old truism, actions speak louder than words and no one is more aware of the empty words of this Government than those in the education sector who have been forced to work in appalling conditions with nothing but empty promises to sustain them. Several times each year we have been called by the board of management to meetings highlighting the inadequacies at the school.

The Minister should forget the empty words and promises and deliver a genuine commitment to action here this evening for Lanesboro Community College. There has been an increase in funding but it is still not enough to create a safe environment for the children and staff in the building.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I could give the short version of the answer to this matter but I should give the longer version because we must defend ourselves from suggestions that this Government has made empty promises. There have been unprecedented levels of investment by this Government over the past nine years.

Dealing specifically with Lanesboro Community College, I thank the Senator for raising this matter because it affords me the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the proposals of the Department of Education and Science on the proposed refurbishment project at Lanesboro Community College.

Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of underinvestment in this area, as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, since taking office in 1997, 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 in the region of 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 with just €92 million in 1997. The 2006 allocation is, in its own right, an increase of over 9% in real terms on the 2005 allocation.

At the end of last year the Minister for Education and Science outlined the spending plans of the Department for primary and post-primary schools for 2006. With €491 million to be spent on school buildings, there will be over 1,300 projects active in schools all over the country. This significant investment will allow the Department to continue the major programme of school buildings and modernisation, which includes improving equipment needed in the new technologies and ICT.

I took this opportunity to give the long answer. The short answer is specific to the issue of Lanesboro Community College. I can inform the Senator — and I would have thought he was aware of the announcement two weeks ago — that this school is among 19 post-primary school projects for which the Minister for Education and Science gave approval to proceed under the most recent capital programme roll-out announcement last week. I appreciate the Senator is looking after his own area but funding has been approved.

The additional funding, totalling €13.6 million, secured for the school building and modernisation programme in the Revised Estimates will allow schools, including Lanesboro, to press ahead with their refurbishment and modernisation projects immediately. In each of the schools concerned the CEO, including the CEO of Longford VEC, will be contacted directly by the building section of the Department of Education and Science shortly with details of how to proceed with their projects.

I thank the Senator again for giving me the opportunity to outline the major capital programme that is in place and the unprecedented levels of investment in recent years. I hope that Lanesboro Community College can move forward at the earliest opportunity.

James Bannon (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State did not give the exact figure announced two weeks ago. I am referring to the Department of Education and Science estimates for the funding necessary to bring the school up to an acceptable standard of building and there is still a shortfall in funding for Lanesboro Community College. The Minister of State might look at this to ensure funding is put in place to provide a safe environment for the children of the area. Parents and the board of management have contacted me and other public representatives from Longford to secure adequate funding to provide the necessary facilities for the safety of their children.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I will relate that view to the Minister but I know Senator Bannon is glad that the decision has been taken and that progress will be made.