Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to discuss this issue. I also thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise it. There has been much discussion recently about the need for diversity and how we provide for schools and look after our pupils. One of the movements that has been to the forefront of this is the gaelscoileanna. One such gaelscoil in my constituency, Gaelscoil Bharra, was founded in 1996. It is an exceptionally successful school with around 200 pupils. I have brought this matter to the attention of the Minister of State because of the circumstances within which the students are trying to learn and within which the staff are doing their best to teach.

I am happy to speak about this matter because in spite of their circumstances, the recognition of the school in my community and the way the pupils and the parents speak about it are fantastic. While we spend so much time talking about the difficulties with which we must deal as a society, I have no doubt that if every school had the reputation of this school, those difficulties would be much smaller.

The entire school is housed in prefabs. It is very close to where I live and for many years before I became active in politics I was always under the presumption that those prefabs were changing facilities for the local GAA club while the fine building next to the prefabs was used by the school. Shortly after I was elected to Dublin City Council, I got a letter from the school and went to meet its representatives. I discovered to my horror that the pupils were in the prefabs and the fine building was the GAA club which had provided the land for the school as a significant gesture to the community. I went into the school and got a tour from the principal who took me to the area used for teaching pupils with special needs. The same area serves as a storage facility for the school's cleaning materials. Pupils who are brought in for special needs education must sit beside a mop and bucket and some spare dusty computers that happened to be there when I visited.

We are all full of intent and nobody accepts that this is acceptable in this day and age. In spite of all that intent and the attitude that the Minister of State will speak about, the fact is that this school is 11 years old and has received many promises. The pupils and teachers have got to the point where they just do not have any faith because it is so slow in moving forward and promises made in the past have not been fulfilled. Teachers are now considering industrial action because they are so exasperated.

This is why I have brought the matter to the attention of the House. None of us can be proud of this. I ask the Government to act as rapidly as possible to ensure a school that is flourishing can get the premises and facilities it deserves. I again thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter and I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it affords me the opportunity to outline the Government's strategy for capital investment in educational projects and to outline the position regarding Gaelscoil Bharra.

Modernising facilities in the 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 focused determination to improve the condition of school buildings and to ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. The reality of this commitment is that the demand for additional accommodation has increased exponentially. In 2006, more than €500 million was invested in schools infrastructure, which funded the delivery of more than 1,300 building projects. This compares with the sum of slightly more than €90 million that was provided for school buildings in 1997.

Under the national development plan, €4.5 billion is being invested to improve existing school buildings and provide extra accommodation for an expected growth of 100,000 in the schoolgoing population in the coming years. Together with the improvements in planning that have already been put in place, as well as those provided for in the new programme for Government, this will enable the Department of Education and Science to meet the future needs of developing areas. The Cathaoirleach will agree that this record level of investment is a positive testament to the high priority the Government attaches to this sector.

As for the matter raised by the Senator, Gaelscoil Bharra is a co-educational all-Irish national school. The school had a September 2006 enrolment of 218 pupils and its enrolments have been on an upward trend of 12% during the last five years. The school has a current staffing level of a principal, eight mainstream teachers and one permanent learning support teacher.

Officials in the school planning section of the Department of Education and Science are considering a number of options for the long-term solution to the school's accommodation difficulties. While one such option is the building of a permanent structure on the school's current site, a number of issues have arisen in respect of this proposal. However, it will be pursued in tandem with a number of other options being considered. The Department acknowledges the need for a solution to the school's accommodation difficulties and is committed to working to achieve a satisfactory solution as soon as possible.

I again thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to outline the position regarding this particular school project and to highlight the enormous amount of work being undertaken by the Department of Education and Science in implementing the school building and modernisation programme to ensure that facilities of the highest standard are available for the entire schoolgoing population.