Seanad debates

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

Adjournment Matters

Physical Education Facilities.

8:00 pm

Deputies:

I extend a warm welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, as this is my first opportunity as Acting Chairman to do so. I wish him every success in his Ministry.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Acting Chairman.

Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)
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I wish to share my time with Senator Finucane.

Deputies:

That is agreed.

Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, to the House and wish him well in his new portfolio.

I raise the matter of the lack of playground facilities at St. James's national school, Cappagh, Askeaton. I acknowledge the tremendous work carried out in this school in Cappagh as part of the capital programme. A total of €457,000 was provided for classroom extensions together with a local contribution of €53,000, bringing the investment in the school up to more than €500,000.

I and my fellow politicians from west Limerick visited the school and met Mr. Cyril Madigan and five teachers. As a result of the development that has taken place, a very small amount of money is available towards the provision of playground facilities, the lack of which is a serious problem. I understand an appeal was submitted for such funding. The school was not allocated funding under category nine of the summer works programme.

I ask the Minister of State to ensure that the necessary finance is made available to provide playground facilities, which are important and should have been covered under the capital programme. I ask him to keep the line of communications open. The builder is still on site and will be there for some weeks. It would be beneficial if the Department could provide the necessary finance for the these playground facilities, which are necessary as part of the today's school curriculum.

Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Brennan for sharing his time with me. I, like the Senator, attended the protest parade outside this school in Cappagh last Monday morning. It was sad to see primary school children and their parents walking up and down protesting outside the school because the Department of Education and Science did not grant the school funding under the summer works scheme for the provision of a playground. It is a matter of concern that the children are in the dismal position of not having a playground, especially when there is much talk today about the problem of obesity in children. It was a retrograde step for the Department not to grant aid this project, given that the parents in this small rural community raised more than €50,000 towards the cost of the school extension, which they very much welcomed.

We discussed the Appropriations Bill yesterday and I noted that a total €90 million was handed back from three Departments, namely, the Office of Public Works, Transport and Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to be used as extra funding in 2007 on the basis that it was not spent in 2006. I cannot understand why it is not possible to fund a project of this kind under the summer works scheme.

The school submitted an appeal and I understand from the appeals section of the Department that it has not decided on the date it will discuss projects of this kind. This is a worthwhile project that deserves assistance. I hope the Minister of State has good news for us.

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Brennan for raising this matter and Senator Finucane for his contribution. It affords me the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and the position of the Department of Education and Science regarding the provision of a replacement playground at St. James's School in Cappagh, County Limerick.

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 and the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, since taking office, the Government has shown a focused 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. Under the National Development Plan 2007 to 2013, funding of €4.5 billion will be invested in a modernisation and development programme for first and second level schools. This unprecedented level of investment will allow us to meet the needs of a growing school population, to modernise existing school facilities and to provide for curriculum reform and innovation.

A total of 7,800 individual school building projects were delivered for the €2.6 billion investment under the 2000-06 period of the last national development plan. The completion of building projects under the €4.5 billion investment in the new plan will benefit from recent innovations in delivery mechanisms that have allowed for fast tracking of priority school developments. Activity under the new plan is already under way, with 1,500 school building projects due to be delivered in 2007.

St. James's School in Cappagh is a co-educational primary school with a September 2006 enrolment of 103 pupils. Enrolments at this school have been relatively stable, with a slight increase in recent years from 86 pupils in 2002 to 103 pupils in 2006. The school originally submitted an application to the Department of Education and Science for major capital investment in its existing buildings. Having considered the school's accommodation needs, the school authorities were offered and accepted funding under the small schools initiative in 2005 to provide accommodation suitable to that of a four-teacher school. This building project is currently under construction.

Earlier this year, the Department of Education and Science announced over 1,100 modernisation projects to improve facilities at schools under the 2007 summer works scheme. The school authority made an application for the provision of a hard-court play area under the scheme. Under the published prioritisation criteria governing this scheme, external environment projects such as the provision of hard play areas fall into category ten. This category was not reached this year. The management authority of the school has appealed the decision and this is currently under consideration in the Department.

I thank the Senator once again for raising this matter and allowing me to outline the progress being made under the school building and modernisation programme and the position regarding the application for the provision of a replacement playground at St. James's School in Cappagh, County Limerick.

Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for the information given. If the Department had carried out the works under the scheme, it would have saved a lot of money. The amount needed to complete the playground area is less than €50,000. I ask the Minister of State to convey to the Minister that the lines of communication must be kept open, so that we can resolve this problem in the near future.

Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)
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While I am aware that the appeals committee will meet to discuss this project and others, can the Minister of State get back to us with the date of that meeting?

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will convey the views of the Senators to the Minister and we will keep in touch with them.