Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)
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I raise the urgent need for the refurbishment of St. Brigid's national school in Palmerstown, Dublin 20. This school has commissioned a health and safety audit. Following a response from the Department of Education and Science, the Health and Safety Authority will visit the school on 9 October 2008. This is how serious the situation is. I do not know if this is unprecedented but it is extraordinary that the school has had to commission a health and safety audit because of the conditions in it and that the Health and Safety Authority will visit it to investigate.

St. Brigid's national school has 388 pupils and has been waiting ten years for essential refurbishment and extension. It is now at the tender-evaluation stage and the builder is ready to go yet despite all this, imagine the shock and disappointment of the parents, the school, the school principal and the pupils when they found out on Monday that the school was not included in the Minister for Education and Science's priority school list. They had fully expected to be on the list this week.

These students are being educated in Dickensian conditions. There is mould, dampness and asbestos behind toilets and there are loose electrical wires. This is extraordinary. Between 300 and 400 concerned parents turned up on Monday night at a meeting in the school to highlight the appalling conditions and the urgent need for the refurbishment. I pay tribute to the principal and teachers. There is a wonderful atmosphere in the school, despite the appalling physical conditions. I do not know how the teachers do the work they do nor how the principal, Noeleen Conboy and Fiona Ebbs, chairperson of the parents' association, have kept up their spirits.

The situation is ludicrous because between professional fees and temporary accommodation, a bill of approximately €700,000 has been incurred to date. These moneys went to getting prefabs on site and paying the fees for the building so far. The prefabs temporarily housing the students cost €12,000 a month, yet the new school was not on the list this week.

I already mentioned the health and safety audit and would like a response on that. Will the Minister of State tell us when the essential works will take place in the school and how much longer it will have to wait? We have a thriving community with a school in the middle of it, but because of the conditions young people are going to move. They will travel on the motorway and go to schools further away. The school will lose teachers if that continues. It has already waited a decade. I look forward to hearing what the Minister of State has to say about when funding will be provided to the school.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Fitzgerald for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the Department's capital programme of works for 2008 and to outline the current position with regard to St. Brigid's national school, Palmerstown, Dublin 20.

St. Brigid's national school is a primary school catering for girls. The enrolment, as at 30 September 2007, is 399 pupils. The school has a current staffing of a principal, 15 mainstream assistants and five special education teachers. The school was approved funding in the amount of €25,741.80 for external security works under the summer works scheme in 2005. The school authority submitted an application to the Department for large scale capital funding for an extension- refurbishment project in April 1999. The additional accommodation being provided comprises 739 sq m.

The building project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The tender report was submitted to the Department in November 2007. A letter issued to the school authorities at the time advising the school not to proceed further until Departmental approval was given. The school building project required is being considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme. I assure the Senator that the project will be progressed when the necessary resources are available to allow this happen. All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity etc., leading ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners.

Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. The rating for St. Brigid's is band 2.3.

As the Senator is probably aware, almost €600 million in public funding is being provided for school buildings this year. This will enable the completion of work on 67 large-scale primary school projects that will deliver 7,000 additional permanent school places in new schools and 2,300 additional permanent school places in existing schools. It will enable construction work on 150 devolved projects under the permanent accommodation scheme which will provide 8,000 additional places in existing primary schools.

In the post-primary sector, construction work will be completed on 19 large-scale projects, which will provide 2,400 permanent school places in 4 new schools; additional accommodation and refurbishment works in 15 schools that will benefit over 7,000 pupils; the purchase of sites to facilitate the smooth delivery of the school building programme, particularly in rapidly developing areas; the progression of new projects through architectural planning and design stages; and the construction of six 16-classroom schools and 20 eight-classroom new schools delivered and being delivered under the fast track off-site construction programme.

On Monday of this week, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, announced a further tranche of projects to progress through the school building programme, including the following: five primary and two post-primary projects are to prepare to go to site before the end of 2008; 12 primary and three post-primary projects are to proceed to tender, with a view to going on site in the first half of 2009; and three primary schools are to progress up to and including application for planning permission and permission and preparation of tender documents, with a view to the earliest possible date to site.

Construction is also due to start in 2008 on the first bundle of PPP schools, while further ones will be offered to the market next year with a view to building work commencing in later years. Due to the level of competing demands on the capital budget available to the Department, it was not possible to approve the project for St Brigid's national school. The Minister wishes to assure the House that he is committed to providing suitable high-quality accommodation for the school. However, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time.

The Minister intends to make a further announcement in the first quarter of 2009 on major primary and post primary school projects to proceed to construction. This is an enormous programme of work by any standards and, while there will continue to be a focus on providing extra places in developing areas, the Department will also deliver improvements in the quality of existing primary and post-primary school accommodation throughout the country. The emphasis, however, will be on new schools and extensions to provide additionality in rapidly developing areas.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I wish to point out that over the lifetime of the national development plan, the Government is providing funding of €4.5 billion for school buildings. This will be the largest investment programme in schools in the history of the State and will enable the Department to ensure that school places are available where they are needed. The next announcements will be in the first quarter of 2009. I will convey Senator Fitzgerald's remarks with regard to the health and safety issues to the Minister.

Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the fact the Minister of State will bring my concerns to the Minister. Why is there not transparency with regard to the building programme? Why do schools not know where they are on the list and in the timeframe?

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The system is transparent and there is democratic accountability in the House. There are set procedures in place for the selection of projects, I mentioned the banding system. I will seek a more comprehensive response on the transparency of the system for the Senator from the Department.