Seanad debates
Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Business of Seanad
Schools Building Projects Status
2:30 pm
Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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St. Molaga's senior national school has 463 pupils. It is in the town of Balbriggan, County Dublin. Balbriggan is the fastest growing town in Ireland, it has the youngest population in the State and has the capacity to expand much more. Since 2000, over half the pupils and half the teaching staff have been housed in 16 prefabricated buildings. These are now in a desperate state of repair despite the best efforts of the principal, Pauline Costello, and her staff. They are overcrowded, and cold and damp in the winter and too hot and stuffy in the summer. The conditions are intolerable. The school is at bursting point and, given the projected enrolment from the feeder school, Sts. Peter and Paul junior school, and the drop in the pupil-teacher ratio, extra capacity is urgently needed in St. Molaga's.
The school is on the major building works list for 2019-2021 but nothing is imminent. I brought forward this matter on the Commencement on 26 October last. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Halligan, told me on that day that substantial progress would be made on this project before the Christmas break.
Christmas came and went and no word came to the principal. This prompted the principal to apply for additional prefabs due to the urgent capacity issues. She did so very reluctantly due to their cost and the fear that the ultimate goal of permanent school structures being put in place would be put on the back burner for a further 17 years. In early January the Department made contact with the principal, organising a meeting to discuss the extension. I believe that 7 February was finalised as the date for this meeting.
This afternoon Pauline Costello got word that approval had been granted for prefabs for two mainstream and one special education classrooms. This was less than she had requested but it is welcome. The focus, however, should remain on the extension which needs to be delivered immediately. Can the Minister give me a clear outline today of the appointment of a design team and planning permission application or will this be given to the team that is meeting the Department on 7 February in Tullamore?
I am also looking for a guarantee that the granting of additional prefabs does not mean that the extension date will be pushed out because 17 years is too long to wait and we need this permanent structure in place for the children of St. Molaga's and of Balbriggan who will enter the school in the future.
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I can understand what a frustrating experience it is for any school that is struggling.My Department is planning on delivering 20,000 school places every year. We are facing the need to meet very strong population challenges across both primary and secondary level. It is a challenging area for my capital Department.
On the wider issue of the planning area of Balbriggan, it is indeed one of 314 planning areas across the country in which the Department is currently carrying out a demographic exercise to identify whether there is pressure for additional accommodation to be built in the longer term, that is, to extend the total number of places available in the area. That result should be available within a reasonable period although it is not yet available.
On the specific situation in respect of St. Molaga's school, I recognise that what the Senator says is correct. The school has had a permanent building and temporary accommodation. It has survived for a very long period on a mixture of the two, with eight classrooms in temporary accommodation as well as two special needs classes. The school is absolutely and rightly on the Department's building programme. I do not want to get into a dispute about timings. However, the note I have says there was contact during the summer months regarding a project brief for the school and the longer-term projected staff requirements, and that the Department is currently preparing the project brief following that discussion. As the Senator correctly stated, a meeting has been scheduled for early February to bring that discussion further, with a consultation with the school authorities. The completion of the project brief will facilitate the project to be progressed into architectural planning, which includes the appointment of a design team. This is a positive movement for the project. There is a project brief close to completion. There is this meeting and it will proceed then to the design phase.
I assure the Senator that my Department does recognise the importance of this. Providing additional prefab accommodation does not mean that the school will lose its position or the importance that is assigned to the work. As the Senator did, I also commend the principal, Pauline Costello, and the staff on the work they are doing in the school. I hope these scheduled meetings will assist the school in its planning and delivery of the service to which it is giving such commitment at present.
Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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The principal and teaching staff are doing an excellent job there, despite the challenges they face. I am sure they will continue to do an excellent job. However, the children and staff deserve a decent and safe work and learning environment. The contact during the summer months was merely in the form of acknowledgement letters to the letters Pauline Costello submitted. There was no information contained in them. The contact in January that was the first of a substantial nature.
I am glad to hear that a project brief is being prepared. I hope details of it will be delivered to the board of management at the meeting on 7 February. I re-emphasise that this really is a priority at this stage. I understand there are other priority areas around the country but this is of urgent priority because of the census data and the desperate conditions in which the pupils and teaching staff have had to subsist for the past 17 years. Could the Minister tell me when we will see the extension being completed? Is the projected date in 12 months or 18 months? In the Minister's experience, what is the time scale between the project brief being completed and the actual delivery?
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Unfortunately, I cannot give any such projection because every project genuinely does differ. There can be delays in a planning process or a design team. There can be issues around reconsidering some elements of the design when it is seen. There can be issues around tender. It is a process we have to go through and I would only be misleading the Senator if I said one phase will take X amount of time and another will take Y amount. It would be construed as a commitment which I simply cannot make.
The Deputy referred to the census data. It is being very closely examined at present to see if there is an expectation of additional capacity being needed in the Balbriggan area.The project predominantly involves replacing capacity which has been provided on a temporary basis. As I understand it, at this point it is not based on trying to increase the overall enrolment numbers for the school or area. I will convey to my Department how the school community and the Senator feel about the project. I recognise that virtually every area to which I go has projects that are very urgent. It is the product of the fact that we are experiencing population growth which up to now has mainly been in the primary school system but which is now occurring in the secondary school system. We have to make sure we meet the needs of the school population every year.
It is heartening that the overall number of children accommodated country-wide in temporary prefab accommodation is reducing. Undoubtedly, to some degree, after a lost decade of investment in many public service areas we are catching up. The Department has been able to protect investment in the education sphere in order to provide for children. It will have to continue to do so within tight financial constraints.
Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has touched on the fact that this is not about creating extra capacity in the school. Extra capacity has been created in many other schools in the town of Balbriggan in the past few years, which is to be welcomed. However, the pupils and teachers of St. Molaga's who have built a great history and served the community in Balbriggan feel they have been left behind because the school has been allowed to run down and is falling apart. It is very important that the existing capacity be protected and that the pupils and teachers be given a decent school.
Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has responded as best he can. I should not have allowed the Senator to speak again, but she said she wanted to clarify something.
Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence.