Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for providing me with the opportunity to raise on the Adjournment the accommodation needs of Bishop Ahern national school, Leamlara, County Cork. This school is unfortunate in that applications it made during the past 12 months in respect of both permanent and temporary accommodation were rejected. At present, 84 pupils attend the school. However, as it is situated in an area where major housing development took place in recent years, 23 new pupils are expected to enrol next September. Information available to the Department of Education and Science on demographic trends will show that there is a need to provide temporary and then more permanent accommodation at Bishop Ahern national school at the earliest possible opportunity.

In association with parents and community representatives, the board of management at the school made an offer to the Department to the effect that the local community would contribute 33% of the money required in respect of accommodation needs. I understand that in a reply issued to the school authorities last week, the Department rejected the offer to which I refer.

Members of the board of management requested a meeting with representatives of the planning and building unit of the Department so that they might have an opportunity to outline the short and medium-term requirements relating to the school. That request was rejected but I ask the Minister of State to bring it to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, with a view to revisiting it. Dialogue between the school board of management and the Department of Education and Science is the least we should expect and demand.

In the growing community of Leamlara there is a willingness through the board of management, the parents' association and so forth to provide a significant local financial input into the solution to this problem. That is something we should recognise, welcome and, I hope, respond to. The current position of the board of management is that it will resubmit a request for temporary accommodation and a request for permanent accommodation. I support those requests and hope the Minister of State will ask the Minister for Education and Science to respond favourably.

A large additional number of students is due to come on stream next September. The current structures within the school, whereby a general purpose room is being used as a classroom and therefore having an effect on physical education and other school activities, is not satisfactory and must be addressed. I look forward to some degree of flexibility on the part of the Department in terms of providing a reasonable response to a reasonable request from a local community.

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. Undoubtedly, he has the quietest voice in the Seanad. That is meant as a compliment.

I am replying to this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who unfortunately cannot be present. Bishop Ahern national school, Leamlara, County Cork, has applied to the Department of Education and Science for large-scale capital funding for an extension project. In common with all such applications, an assessment was carried out in the Department's planning and building unit. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of existing buildings, site capacity and so forth, 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 and as it is ready to proceed. There are four band ratings in all, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. Band 1 projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exists but where there is a high demand for school places, while a band 4 project provides for desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities. Each band rating has a number of sub-categories which more specifically describe the type of works needed and the urgency attaching to them.

Bishop Ahern national school is a fully vertical co-educational primary school with a current enrolment of 84 pupils. The staffing level is a principal, three mainstream assistants and two learning support teachers. Consistent with the approach already outlined and following an assessment of the school's application for capital funding, the proposed building project has been assigned a band 2.4 rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. This reflects the fact that while there is a deficit of accommodation at the school, this does not represent a substantial or significant proportion of the school's overall accommodation needs. It also reflects the fact that moderate refurbishment is needed. The next step for the project is the appointment of a design team. Unfortunately, owing to the scale of the demand on the capital budget of the Department of Education and Science from higher competing priorities, it is not possible to provide an indicative timeframe for the appointment of a design team at this time.

Earlier this year, the school applied for the provision of temporary accommodation for a mainstream teacher and a resource teacher. Owing to the level of demand on the budget for temporary accommodation, it is not possible to approve all applications received and only those with no scope whatever to accommodate extra teaching resources can be approved. In the case of Bishop Ahern national school, it has a 92 sq. m. general purpose room. With a teaching staff of four teachers and an enrolment of 85 pupils, a pupil teacher ratio of 21:1 will apply. A smaller classroom than that normally provided by the Department of Education and Science therefore would suffice.

The Department holds the view that part of the general purpose room can be cordoned off for use by the extra mainstream teacher on an interim basis until the Department is in a position to make funding available for an extra classroom. The school already has a 37 sq. m. prefab for its two resource teachers, which is almost the size of what is usually provided, and this should be sufficient. The school appealed the Department's decision and put forward a matching funding proposal to address its accommodation needs as part of its appeal. The Department examined this proposal and recognises its merits in terms of addressing the school's current accommodation needs. Unfortunately, however, in the current economic climate the Department of Education and Science is not in a position to approve the funding sought, even with a contribution from the school. This decision was communicated to the school earlier this month.

While the Minister for Education and Science accepts that it is far from ideal for any children to be taught in non-customised accommodation, he hopes the school authority will realise the Department does not refuse demonstrably necessary funding applications unless it is not in a position to do otherwise. Unfortunately, the situation with regard to the accommodation application for Bishop Ahern national school is unlikely to change this year, especially given the availability of a short-term solution to the issue within the school itself. I assure the Senator, however, that the Minister is committed to regularising the situation at the school as soon as the funding is available to do so.