Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice founded the Christian Brothers and set up his first school in Waterford at Mount Sion. Although I am a De La Salle man, I am deeply proud of the Christian Brothers' beginnings and traditions and of Mount Sion and the host of luminaries it has produced in the academic, political and sporting fields in County Waterford and the country.

The board of management, the principal, the teachers and the parents of children attending Mount Sion secondary school were told more than five years ago that they would get a new school and that this school was at pre-tender stage. The then Minister, Deputy Woods, when opening the Abbey community school in Ferrybank in Waterford, announced that moneys had been allocated for four other new schools in Waterford city and county, including Mount Sion secondary school. However, Mount Sion is the only one of the four not to have received the green light to proceed with its new school. With all due respect to Department officials, those connected with Mount Sion have been fobbed off with promises from them and politicians as to when their school will commence. It is questionable whether they will even get the go ahead at this stage.

In a meeting with a high-ranking Department official in January 2005, representatives from Mount Sion were assured they would get the go ahead for the new school. At another meeting in January 2006, they were assured the new school was "a priority issue" and had the highest rating. The school's representatives sought a meeting with the Department again in 2007, but no meeting has been granted as yet. They were told they would have a technical visit from an official by March 2007, but that has not taken place to date.

There are serious health and safety deficiencies in the current school which require urgent attention. The school authorities need to know whether they will get their new school and when they will get the go ahead to start building. The site is available and everything is in place. All they need is a green light from the Department. The school has no PE hall, no modern facilities and will die unless permission is granted to proceed immediately. It may be suggested that falling numbers are the reason for the delay, but what else can be expected if a school cannot provide the modern day requirements for which the school's excellent staff are crying out?

It would be a shame to see this school founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice fade out of existence because of false promises and a lack of urgency by the Department of Education and Science and its political masters. The people of Waterford and people throughout the world who support the Christian Brothers will not stand for this treatment of a fine school which has contributed so much to the nation. I earnestly hope an announcement allowing the commencement of the new school will be made without further delay.

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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I thank Senator Cummins for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the strategy of the Department of Education and Science for capital investment in education projects and the current position with regard to capital funding for Mount Sion secondary school, Waterford.

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, the Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

The Government has dramatically increased investment in the schools building programme from just over €90 million when it came into office to €540 million this year. Under the lifetime of the national development plan, almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools.

This year, more than €300 million will be invested in large-scale building projects, concentrated mainly on the provision of school accommodation in rapidly developing areas. This level of funding will facilitate construction work on more than 150 large-scale projects which will deliver more than 15,000 additional permanent places in new schools and the extension and modernisation of facilities in existing schools for more than 45,000 pupils. It will also enable the purchase of sites to facilitate the smooth delivery of the schools building programme, again with the focus being on site requirements in rapidly developing areas. The balance will be used to fund the other elements of the schools building programme such as the summer works scheme, the small schools scheme, the permanent accommodation scheme, etc. In total more than 1,500 school building projects will be delivered in 2007.

With regard to Mount Sion secondary school, the Department is in receipt of an application for major capital funding from the management authority of that school. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale works and has been assigned a band 2 rating. The Department recognises the historic significance of the school in the provision of education by the Christian Brothers in the country and accepts that the building is not in a good condition. In this regard, a technical inspection recommended that consideration be given to the construction of a new school on the site rather than refurbishment of the existing school. However, the site is very difficult and a significant amount of abnormal costs would arise in its development. Progress on the proposed works was, however, put on hold due to the declining enrolments at the school. The Department is concerned about this and particularly the school's ability to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum.

The possibility of an amalgamation with the second Christian Brothers school in Waterford, which also has declining numbers, has been mooted. The Department awaits clarification from the trustees of their position on this proposal. When this is known it will consider how to proceed, taking into account the long-term post primary school accommodation requirements for Waterford City.

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this matter.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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With all due respect to the Minister of State, his response included several red herrings regarding other schools. Mount Sion wants to know if and when it will get its new school. The Government is obviously not going to answer that question although the former Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Woods, announced the money for it more than five years ago. It is a disgrace that a school set up by Brother Ignatius Rice is treated in such a manner and that it receives false promises which are crippling the fabric of the secondary school in Mount Sion. It is unfortunate it is being fobbed off again today.