Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)
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Last December, when the Minister for Education and Skills announced details of the education infrastructure plan for 2012, St. Mary's national school in Virginia was omitted from his list. In April the Minister published the five year infrastructure plan, which outlines when the major projects needed to cater for demographic growth will be completed. Some 77 schools were given the green light to replace rented prefabs with permanent classrooms but, again, St. Mary's was omitted from the list. The Department's press release on the plan states: "alongside the 77 schools who have been approved, the Department of Education and Skills is considering a further 110 schools in this scheme to replace prefabs." Is St. Mary's being considered for the replacement of prefabs or the extension it has been waiting on for the last eight years?

The major growth experienced in Virginia and surrounding areas has resulted in an influx of families and increased demand for school accommodation. The most recent census figures indicate that the population of Virginia changed by 31.6% between 2006 and 2011, in large part due to its location along the commuter belt and its close proximity of Dublin. In March the school enrolled its 80th student since September and its total enrolment now stands at 380 students. These statistics do not appear to be reflected in the schools building programme for 2012.

What is the current status of St. Mary's, what is required for it to move to the next stage and when does the Minister envisage that the extension will be approved? The school is not even mentioned in the six tables on the Department's website which set out details of the building programme for 2012. When I sought further information from the website on the current stage of the plans for the extension I came across two documents. The first, which was dated 5 April 2007, set out the schools which were starting architectural planning for building and modernisation works and the second, dated 10 June 2011, listed major projects at architectural planning stage. Despite a gap of four years between these documents there has been no update or movement on the project since the most recent was published last year.

Understandably, parents, staff and even students are frustrated about this delay. I urge the Minister to expedite the project. The school is using 11 portakabins to accommodate its students at a cost of €80,000 per year. If it is not included in the current five year infrastructure plan, it will be 2017 before it is on the next list and construction will not be completed until 2020. Where is the economic efficiency in renting 11 prefabs until such time as we can build badly needed classrooms? The school community is being kept in limbo even though eight years have passed since the project was commenced. It suggests negligence on the part of the Department that nothing has been done on the issue. Why has the project been shelved and when will the Department dust it off and construct the new extension to the school?

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn. I thank Senator Reilly for raising the question of St. Mary's national school in Virginia, County Cavan, and welcome the opportunity it provides to outline to the Seanad the Government's strategy for capital investment in major primary and post-primary education projects over the coming years and to clarify the current position on the building project for St Mary's.

I wish to begin by setting out the context in which decisions on meeting the accommodation needs of schools over the coming years must be considered. Total enrolment is expected to grow by approximately 70,000 students between now and 2018. This will involve an increase of over 45,000 pupils at primary level and 25,000 students at post-primary level. On 12 March the Minister announced details of 219 major school building projects which will commence construction over the next five years as part of a €2 billion capital investment programme. These are in addition to the 56 major school building projects already announced for 2012. The projects will account for most of the capital funding available from now until 2016. To meet the needs of our growing population of school-going children, the Department must establish new schools as well as extending or replacing a number of existing schools, particularly in those areas where it has been identified that most demographic growth will be concentrated.

There are five primary schools in the Virginia feeder area. The enrolment at primary level show an increase over the past decade. However, based on an analysis of child benefit data for the area, the Department has projected that future enrolments will remain relatively stable up to 2018. The current enrolment at St. Mary's national school, Virginia, is 380 pupils, up from 350 in 2007. While enrolment levels have been growing at the school, they have increased by less than 10% in the past five years.

The building project for St. Mary's is currently at an early stage of architectural planning. The brief for the project is to construct an extension to the existing school of approximately 1,250 sq. m, some refurbishment of the existing accommodation and the replacement of a number of temporary classrooms. This will result in the provision of a 16 classroom school. The current teacher allocation stands at 14 mainstream teachers.

The design team was appointed in June of last year. Stage 1 of architectural planning was approved in February this year and the design team is currently working on the Stage 2(a) submission. The next stage is the completion of the detailed design, planning permission and other necessary statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. To ensure every child has access to a school place, the delivery of major school projects to meet the demographic demands nationally will be the main focus for capital investment in schools over the coming years.

All other school building projects, including the project for St. Mary's, will continue to be advanced over time within the context of the funding available. However, in light of competing demands on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible at this time to progress the project for St. Mary's national school, Virginia, to tender and construction stage. I thank the Senator for allowing me the opportunity to outline the position.