David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State can do his first job for the south east by approving the capital funding for this school. I campaigned on this issue for many years before I came into the Seanad. I have raised it on five separate occasions here and have tabled four Adjournment motions. I have done so because it is important to me. I have visited the school, Gaelscoil Philip Barún, Tramore, County Waterford, several times and far too many of its students are being taught in prefabs.

The school has applied for capital funding to build a new building to move the children out of prefabs. Since July the school has worked with its design team to clarify the final stage 2(b) report for architectural planning. All of the Department’s queries have been answered. Ms Noeleen Newman, the major design and construction person for the project, has assured it that the project is effectively at stage 2(b) and needs approval. Only four other schools in the country have completed all the architectural planning stages. This project needs to be included in a new building list as it is shovel ready and will benefit the students. It will create jobs in the area and remove prefabs which have been used for far too long.

The Department’s position is that the earliest it can go to tender is 2018. The school would like the Minister and the Department to bring that forward. Are there any plans to increase the number of schools being built? If that was the case, we would hope this school could be included. The Government is talking about stimulus and investment and if there is, as it says, an upturn in the economy, one would hope for an increase in capital funding across all Departments. If there is to be any increase in school building programmes, I will make sure to do my part to see that this school is included on that list.

The minor works grant has been withdrawn and the school’s maintenance budget has been cut by €10,000 with no prospect of a permanent building being provided in the short or medium term. I will continue to track this issue and to lobby on behalf of the people who use the school, the pupils and the parents. I welcome the fact that the application has come this far because the school is in a much better position than it was last year or two years ago. We want the building to be built and the funding to be provided as quickly as possible.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position on the major capital project for Gaelscoil Philip Barún, Tramore, County Waterford. The Senator will be aware of the demographic challenge facing the education system in the coming years. Primary enrolments, which have already risen substantially in recent years, are projected to rise by over 36,000 pupils by 2016 and they are set to continue to rise, with a likely peak at around 574,000 pupils to be catered for in 2018. This compares with some 526,422 pupils enrolled in primary schools for the 2012-13 school year. It is vital, therefore, that there is sufficient school accommodation to cope with these pupil enrolments.

In order 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 in areas where demographic growth has been identified. The delivery of these new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, will be the main focus of the Department's budget for the coming years.

While the Department would seek to provide additional accommodation to meet demographic growth, it would also aim to ensure maximum use of existing school accommodation. A priority, therefore, for the Department is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places.

The school building project for Gaelscoil Philip Barún comprises a new eight classroom school with ancillary accommodation. The project is at an advanced stage of the architectural planning process and the stage 2(b) submission was recently approved by the Department. This was confirmed to the school by letter on 25 September last. It was explained to the school that due to competing demands on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible to authorise the project to proceed to tender at this time. However, the project for Gaelscoil Philip Barún is now well placed to progress to tender and construction in the event that further funding becomes available to the Department in the future.

The Senator also referred to the restoration of the minor works grant. The Senator will be aware that the focus under the infrastructure and capital investment programme 2012-16 is on meeting the demand for additional school places. Consequently, there is no funding provided at this time in the 2014 capital allocation for the payment of a minor works grant. Circular letter 0062/2013, which accompanied the publication of the minor works grant scheme last November, advised that the grant will be paid in future years only as funding permits. The Minister is very interested in this matter and has spoken about it on several occasions.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position on the matters raised.

David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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I think what the Minister and the Department are saying is that the school has done all the preparatory work and it comes down to whether extra funding will be provided to build more schools, whenever the next round of funding is made available beyond the current capital list. I appreciate the Minister of State may not have the answer now but could he tell me afterwards what plans there are to build new schools and provide extra funding for new schools? If there is no plan until 2018 that is bad news. The pupils, parents and staff would welcome clarification so that they know exactly where they stand.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I can update the Senator now. We are involved in a budgetary process now and will be next year. The decision was correctly taken to put together a capital envelope for schools for 2012-16. If it is any help to the Senator, that is progressing quite well. It is ahead of target and provides good value for taxpayers' money. The Minister for Education and Skills is very keen to have additional money spent on capital projects as soon as she can get her hands on it. There is progress in that group of schools.

The aim for this school is to fight to be included in the next project. The school is in a very good position. It has gone through the various stages. It is a question now of when money becomes available. The Senator should keep raising the issue, as he has done today, to ensure that it is on the next list of projects. I hope it will not be as far off as the Senator thinks. That depends on circumstances, money and growth. Recent news is good even if the Senator might not want to admit that. I hope that will lead to there being more money available sooner than we all hoped.

Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)
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My Adjournment matter concerns Colaiste Pobail Osraí and is similar to Senator Cullinane's but it may not be as advanced. Colaiste Pobail Osraí was established in Kilkenny as an ionad in 1991 with 13 students. It now has 193 students and is the only Irish language second level school in County Kilkenny. Following an inspection by the Department of Education and Skills, it was granted its own roll number. Prior to that it had been under the remit of Kilkenny Vocational School. The application for the next few years shows an enrolment increase of approximately 20 students per year. The only outdoor play area at the school is a basketball court. This is not ideal for 193 students.

The school has been located in temporary prefabricated accommodation on the site of Ormonde College, a post-leaving certificate, PLC, college, since 1995. To date, €930,000 has been spent on temporary accommodation for Colaiste Pobail Osraí, that is, €137,000 per annum, since 2007 and, therefore, it makes sense to move this project on. If some decision is not reached within the next two to three years, there will be no option but for the school to move into temporary accommodation on a more suitable site, which will incur greater expense for the Department, without an overall resolution to this problem.

This would incur greater expense for the Department, without an overall solution to the problem. I would appreciate a positive response from the Minister to this.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who wanted to attend but could not do so. I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position on the provision of improved accommodation for Coláiste Pobail Osraí, Ormonde Road, Kilkenny.

The Senator will be aware of the demographic challenge facing the education system in the coming years. Post-primary enrolments, which have already risen substantially in recent years, are projected to rise by over 19,000 pupils by 2016, as I mentioned earlier to Senator Cullinane. They are set to continue to rise and will probably peak with around 404,000 pupils to be catered for in 2025. This compares with some 327,320 pupils enrolled in post-primary schools for the 2012-2013 school year. It is vital, therefore, that there is sufficient school accommodation to cope with these pupil enrolments.

In order 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 in areas where demographic growth has been identified. The delivery of these new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, will be the main focus of the Department's budget for the coming years.

Coláiste Pobail Osraí operates from prefabricated premises on the grounds of Ormonde College, which is in the ownership of the Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board, ETB. I understand that it shares woodwork, science, technology and computer facilities with Ormonde College. I can confirm to the Senator that the Department has received an application from the school for major capital funding to provide a new school on a green field site. Department officials visited the school earlier this year and the Department subsequently provided grant aid to the school to reconfigure existing accommodation within Ormonde College and to purchase additional temporary accommodation. This grant will assist in providing improved accommodation for the school as well as providing accommodation for increasing pupil numbers.

The forward planning section of the Department is currently considering the demographic demand for additional school places in all areas of the country, including Kilkenny. The accommodation needs of Coláiste Pobail Osraí and how they might be met will be considered in the context of this review. The review should occur in the timeframe envisaged by the Senator as the forward planning section has been very active analysing various counties. I hope we can work on the report next year to get some indications on pupil numbers, demographics and required school accommodation.

In view of the financial constraints imposed by the need, outlined in the five year plan, to prioritise available funding for the provision of essential teaching accommodation to meet demographic demand, the Senator will appreciate that it is not possible to provide an indicative timeframe at this time for the progression of a building project for the school. The Department will, however, continue to liaise with Coláiste Pobail Osraí regarding its accommodation needs.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position. The analysis will be conducted in a manner that I hope the Senator finds timely.

Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)
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As the Minister of State notes, the school is sharing a site with Ormonde College, a post-leaving certificate, PLC, college, and is sharing some of its woodwork, science, technology and computer facilities. The school has now been granted three rooms in Ormonde College, which means the PLC college is being squeezed for space. It is imperative that this matter progresses because the concept of a pobail school was not taken into account at one time but there is now a growing demand for children to be taught through Irish. There is a Gaelscoil in Kilkenny but only 50% of its students, around 25 to 30 pupils, go on to Coláiste Pobail Osraí each year. Other students come from outside areas to attend the school. I urge the Minister of State to keep this matter on the agenda so that if a site is identified the school can proceed to apply to the Department for a new school on a green field site.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Just to clarify, an application has been made relating to a green field site. I will discuss this issue with the Minister, Deputy O'Sullivan, and her officials. I am interested in this because the PLC area falls under my remit and I am concerned that PLC colleges are not too squeezed. When I travel around the country I see a greater demand for PLC places and we must work on this. I will take an active interest in this, along with the Minister, and we will give the Senator feedback.