Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Shane McEntee, to the House.

The matter I wish to raise concerns the need for the Minister for Education and Skills to review the band rating for the proposed new accommodation for Scoil Mhuire primary school, Clarinbridge, County Galway, consistent with prior agreement given in 2007.

Five of the local primary schools were classified at the time as being at the same stage. These other primary schools have all advanced, but this school has not, which has caused much grief for the principal, board of management, parents and children.

To provide the background for the Minister of State, Scoil Mhuire is a ten-classroom school catering for 272 children in the Clarinbridge area. It has six portakabins on site, some of which are 11 years old. During the summer the porch fell off two of them, while the floor fell out of one of them. They are deteriorating by the day, as is apparent from the description of recent damage. In addition, there are five internal classrooms which date back to 1959. They are mostly small without en suite toilet facilities. They are becoming unsuitable for the delivery of the revised curriculum, given the need for space for active teaching methods, as is acknowledged in the whole school evaluation that took place last January. The main recommendation made in the report by the inspectors which I have to hand concerned the need for permission for a new school to be granted. No recommendation was made on curricula, methodology and parental involvement, other than on the need for a new school.

The school first lodged an application for new accommodation in 2001. Following various surveys and communication with the Department, a new school building was approved five years ago in April 2007, prior to the election. A meeting was called at the time which was also attended by representatives of the other five local primary schools. However, the project for Clarinbridge national school did not proceed to architectural planning, unlike the projects for the five neighbouring schools in similar circumstances. The school has been informed since that it remains on the band rating of 2.1. It is a source of grievance to the school that the other schools that were at the same stage at the time - I have the names and can give them to the Minister of State - have all moved to the band rating of 1.1.

Those involved in Scoil Mhuire are magnanimous and reasonable. They do not expect to be included in the current capital programme, although obviously everyone would like to be, as they understand the financial constraints within which we operate. However, come 2016, when the current approved capital programme runs out, they want to be included in the next programme. To be sure of this the school needs to have a band rating of 1.1. They feel aggrieved and the core issue is fairness. They have put the question many times in the past five years as to why the other schools, some of which have less need, that were on the same band level in 2007 have moved to the band rating of 1.1 and Scoil Mhuire has not.

I do not yet know what the response of the Minister of State will be, but I put the question formally a year ago to Seán Ó Foghlú before he became the new Secretary General in the Department. The school has put the question many times and been dissatisfied on each occasion with the response. I urge the Minister of State to advise me on how I should proceed if the school is not satisfied with today's response. Perhaps we might arrange a special meeting to ensure the matter is resolved.

The whole school evaluation report, dated January 2012, recommended that the board pursue with all vigour the further upgrading of accommodation facilities. In particular, it recommended that the board review as a matter of urgency the accommodation arrangements for pupils with special educational needs. Every time the principal, Mr. Holian, goes to the Department to speak about the deteriorating state of the prefabs the Department indicates it will replace through the emergency grants scheme any purchased portakabin that falls apart and that it will continue to fund the rented portakabins, in addition to new ones to meet special needs. The principal wants to know whether anyone in the Department recognises the incredible waste such a policy yields in a poor, temporary and unhealthy standard of classroom for pupils and staff on a daily basis. He believes it is time to stop and rethink the approach. In fairness to the Minister for Education and Skills, he has started a policy of replacing single prefabs with a permanent building. However, a school such as Scoil Mhuire that has five to six prefabs seems to be left in the lurch. The core issue is the band rating and how we can advance it in order that the school will be ready in 2016 and 2017. I look forward to the response of the Minister of State.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. However, I do not know whether the reply will suit her. My advice to her is that if it does not, she must continue to pursue the matter.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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I have been doing that for five years. It is terrible that one cannot get the truth.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Senator must continue to pursue the matter. The efforts of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, have been extremely well received, especially the manner in which he is addressing the prefabs issue and schools in general. It is a breath of fresh air in County Meath and I have no doubt it is the same in Galway. I hope he will have more announcements to make this year. People like to have solid buildings rather than paying millions in rent for prefabs.

I will read the reply and if the Senator is not happy with it, she must continue to pursue the matter. If one gets involved in something, one must keep at it and it will work out in the end. I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, and thank the Senator for raising it as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position on the application for an extension at Scoil Mhuire, Clarinbridge and the band rating assigned to the application.

The major capital works application submitted by the board of management of Scoil Mhuire has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale projects and assigned a band rating of 2.1. The priority attaching to individual projects is determined by these criteria which were formulated following consultation with the education partners. There are four band ratings, each of which describes the extent of accommodation required and the urgency attaching to it. Band 1 is the highest priority rating and band 4 the lowest. Documents explaining the band rating system are also available on the Department's website on education.ie.

The board of management sought a review of the band rating on a number of occasions and more recently sought a further review as it remains of the view that the band rating should be 1.1. The main criterion which applies to a band 1.1 project is that the school is serving a rapidly developing area where either there is no existing school or where the existing provision is unable to meet the demand for places. The application for Scoil Mhuire does not meet the band 1.1 criterion and, having considered the matter, it is deemed that the band rating of 2.1 is still applicable. The school was advised of the outcome of the most recent review earlier this month.

The Senator may find it helpful if I set out the context within which the accommodation needs of schools must be considered in the future. Total enrolment is expected to grow by approximately 70,000 students between now and 2018 - by more than 45,000 at primary level and 25,000 at post-primary level. Second level enrolment is expected to continue to rise until at least 2024. The five year programme which the Minister announced earlier this year will provide more than 100,000 permanent school places, of which more than 80,000 will be new school places. The remainder will involve the replacement of temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation. To ensure every child has access to a school place, the delivery of projects to meet the increasing demographic demands will be the main focus for capital investment over the duration of the plan, in particular in those areas where it has been identified that most demographic growth will be concentrated. While Scoil Mhuire has experienced growth in pupil numbers since the application was submitted in 2000, the level of growth is not considered significant in the context of the projected numbers outlined above and it is in that context that the project has not been included in the five year plan. Given the scale of demand for capital investment to meet demographic growth, it has not been possible to appoint design teams for all projects announced in April 2007. An indicative timeframe for the progression of the project for Scoil Mhuire cannot be given at this time.

Recently the school advised the Department that it had temporary accommodation that was in poor condition. The Department has advised the school that it would be prepared to consider an application from it, should it require additional mainstream or special needs accommodation, or the replacement of temporary accommodation which is beyond its useful life. I, again, thank the Senator for allowing me the opportunity to outline the position.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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I know the school will be disappointed with the answer. I must make one clarification; we are not talking about an extension but a totally new school building. The core question remains as to why neighbouring schools were advanced to the band rating 1.1 when the rate of growth in some of them was not as big as that in Clarinbridge national school, yet it has been left behind.

That is the issue those concerned are pursuing. There is a suspicion there was a political stroke in the other cases. It is now time for the Department to rectify the situation and apply fairness across the board.

I thank the Minister of State. I realise he is not in a position to answer that question.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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People can put the facts in front of us. That is all I can say about the other schools. Much can be hearsay. If the facts are there let them be given.