Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock.

Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Holy Family school in Cootehill is very much still in limbo with regard to funding for the provision of new school accommodation. I seem to have received the same reply every time I have raised this issue since I became a Member of the House. There does not seem to be any commitment to make financial provision for this project. This year alone I raised this matter on the Commencement on 11 June and 25 June. I wrote a letter to the Minister in July and received a response dated 8 July. The stock answer from the Department seems to be that priority is afforded to where population growth has been identified and the education system faces a demographic challenge.

The Holy Family school in Cootehill caters for people with severe and profound learning disabilities, moderate and multiple learning disabilities and autism. This September the student population increased once again. The school's figures have continued to rise in recent years and it has already had to move the goalposts repeatedly to cater for the demand for places every year. What needs to happen in order that this project can finally get funding? What is the definition of demographic need or population growth?

These parents do not have the luxury to pick and choose where to send their children. The catchment area for the school is beyond a parish or town and even beyond the county. It serves a number of counties and parents must send their children there to receive the high standard of education and care which the teachers and staff provide. This is a particular demographic with a very real and pressing need. The growth in demand for places every year is very real. The need for wheelchairs and other specialised equipment in use in the school must be considered. Current space is used to its maximum capacity and it is unfair on those children to be taught in this environment.

The teachers, staff and parents are doing their best, but it is time for the Department to intervene in a very real way. This week the Government announced capital funding for education. Speaking on the budget in the Seanad yesterday, the Minister of the Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, mentioned health, education and social protection and stated, "Our commitment to our citizens in these areas requires that we consider these trends into the future and make plans accordingly." He later spoke about "our prioritisation of special education needs". It is very clear the Government needs to put its money where its mouth is and use the capital funding allocated for education to provide new accommodation for this school and its students. The need is there as is the trend, and according to the Government, so is prioritisation. I respectfully ask that funding be put in place once and for all or that we have clarity on when funding may be made available. It is not included in the five-year construction plan, but we now have this capital funding together with the emphasis on special educational needs and the trends and demographic growth. The school will not be able to cope much longer if more students keep coming. It needs new accommodation as soon as possible.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I am taking the debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I thank Senator Reilly for raising the issue as it provides us with the opportunity to clarify the current position in relation to the major capital project for Holy Family Special School, Cootehill, County Cavan. 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 almost 25,000 pupils by 2017 and will continue to rise to a peak of over 574,000 in 2018. 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 existing schools in areas where the most significant demographic growth has been identified. The delivery of these new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, remains the main focus of the Department's budget for the coming years.

Holy Family School, Cootehill, is a multi-denominational special needs school catering for pupils aged four to 18 years with moderate learning disabilities, severe or profound learning disabilities, and pupils with autism. Enrolments at the school for 2015-16 are 155 pupils, representing an increase of 24% over the past five years.

The brief for the project for Holy Family School, Cootehill, is to provide a new 21-classroom special school and appropriate ancillary accommodation. Planning permission, fire safety certification and disability access certification have already been obtained for this project on the basis of the original brief for a 21-classroom school. In order to complete design stages of the project it was necessary, earlier this year, to appoint a replacement mechanical and electrical engineer to the design team. However, a recent request to increase the brief to provide for an additional five permanent classrooms has been submitted by the board of management. A more detailed report on this proposed increase to the brief has been requested by the Department and, upon receipt, this proposal will be considered in the context of the potential impact on the progress of the current project. While the Department is positively disposed towards the increase, the additional five classrooms will, if approved, require an additional planning application and this will need to be further discussed with the school.

Thereafter, subject to no further issues arising, the project will progress to the conclusion of stage 2b, detailed design, with the completion of tender documents. Due to competing demands on the Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements, it was not possible to include this project in the five-year construction programme announced in 2012, as Senator Reilly acknowledged in her submission. However, school building projects, including the Holy Family School project, which have been initiated but not included in the 2012 five-year construction programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to the Department in the future.

Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement matter. In the response it was mentioned that there was a 24% increase this year over the past five years. This would meet the criteria of trying to deal with significant demographic growth. I mentioned in my own contribution that because demand keeps rising, the school has to keep changing the goalposts. It was mentioned that a brief to provide for an additional five permanent classrooms has been submitted by the board of management. The school has been waiting so long for the new building that it has had to keep making changes because there is so much demand. Could the Minister of State press upon the Minister for Education and Skills the need to have funding provided as soon as possible? I hope this could be prioritised for the capital plan funding announced the other day.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I acknowledge the request and will speak to the Minister about the points Senator Reilly has raised. It has been acknowledged that enrolments have increased by 24% over the past five years, which has necessitated an additional request for accommodation. It is fair to acknowledge that the Department is in contact with the board of management and I will raise the matter in person with the Minister, Deputy O'Sullivan.