Feargal Quinn (Independent)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, is welcome.

Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State is welcome and I thank him for attending to take what is my first Adjournment motion in the Seanad. I will declare an interest, as St. Sylvester's infant school in Malahide was my first school. I attended it when I was a kid and have had a long association with it. When I started junior infants in 1978, it was in a prefab. The former Government must take responsibility for the fact that 50% of the school's pupils are still being taught in prefabricated buildings.

While I tabled this motion to be updated on the extension's progress, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, received a letter a number of days ago. If I may, I will relate the relevant points. On 16 June, a letter, entitled "The health and safety dangers of our prefabs", was written. A further letter, dated 10 July, told of how a professional investigation had resulted in one of the school's prefabs, room 15, being condemned with immediate closure. The engineering report confirmed that, as suspected, the flooring had disintegrated. The report was attached to the documentation. It recommended that all entrances and lobbies be replaced immediately to maintain safe access and egress to classrooms.

Indications are that the failures are systemic. In the prefabs, the engineers have recommended that all toilets should not be used until such time as all floors are replaced, leaving 150 infants without toilets. The chair of the board of management states that this is a matter of extreme urgency, as 150 infants are due to return to school on Wednesday, 31 August. Under the present circumstances, the school cannot permit them safe access to the prefabs.

The issue of the extension is twofold and the Minister of State will encounter similar matters in his role. I lobbied against the purchase of the prefabs, but the Department went against the recommendations of the school's board of management. Like other public representatives, I have letters on file. The prefabs are in bits, but they are now the responsibility of the board because the Department went ahead and purchased them. The board has no money to carry out the necessary work. NTW is the consultant engineering company. Ironically, the Department purchased the prefabs under the better value for money scheme.

Will funding be provided to the school to replace or make good the prefabs? It is one of the country's few infant schools. Some 150 pupils will not be able to go to school on 31 August. Does the Minister of State have an update?

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I am replying to this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn. I thank Senator O'Brien for raising this matter, as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and the current position regarding St. Sylvester's infant school, Malahide, County Dublin.

As the Senator will be aware, the school authority submitted an application for major capital funding for an extension and refurbishment project. As part of the assessment 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. A building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band one is the highest and band four the lowest. The project for St. Sylvester's infant school has been assigned a band rating of 2.4. The progression of all large-scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase is contingent on the availability of funding within the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme and the competing demands for this funding.

In the case of the temporary accommodation in St. Sylvester's infants national school, the Department carried out a technical inspection of the accommodation concerned in October 2010 as part of an overall review of temporary accommodation in schools throughout the country. The accommodation concerned was found to be in good condition and well maintained. Subsequently, it was determined that better value for money could be achieved by purchasing the rented units at the school rather than continuing with their rental. As the Senator advised, the Department has received correspondence this week from the school advising of a deterioration in the rented units. In light of this correspondence, the Department will be contacting the school to arrange a further technical visit to examine the accommodation concerned. The school authorities have been advised that the purchase of the accommodation does not affect the progress of the school's major capital application for permanent accommodation which will continue to be considered under the school building and modernisation programme.

I thank the Senator again for giving me the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the current position regarding St Sylvester's junior national school in Malahide.

Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I neglected to congratulate him on his appointment but I believe I did so on radio on the day of his appointment.

I advise the Minister of State, and this should be borne in mind for future school assessments, that the technical assessment carried out on this school was a joke. I have pictures, which I will give the Minister of State, that show the condition of the floors in the classrooms and the toilets. The inspection carried out in this school and in other schools, of which I am aware, was simply a visual one. I welcome very much the fact that the Department will contact the school as a matter of urgency. The school authorities' insurance company has been informed of the position. The 150 junior infants at the school will not be able to use the classes concerned when they return to school on 31 August. We will deal separately on another occasion with the extension works to the school and I will continue to lobby on behalf of the school to improve the band rating. I ask the Minister of State to convey to the Department the extreme urgency of these works and I will give him the independent report. I thank him for his attention to this matter.