Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Josepha Madigan, to the House and thank her for attending.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the attendance by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, to discuss this urgent and serious issue related to the building section of the Department.

In 1996, the Department of Education amalgamated two national schools in Ballinasloe, St. Grellan's boys' school, which dates to 1937 and the opening of which my father remembers as he was one of the first students, and the Sisters of Mercy junior infants' and girls' national school, which was my primary school. Scoil an Chroí Naofa was created in 1996 with an understanding from the Department of Education that a new school building would be provided to accommodate the children. The school, the sole DEIS band 1 school in County Galway, which has more than 280 pupils, is still awaiting a new school building 25 years later. A design team was appointed. Planning permission was issued in 2011, extended in 2016 and is due to expire in November 2021. There is still no school and no sign of any building works.

The stakeholders involved are the Department of Education, which is responsible for the delivery of this project, the Department's building section, the design team, the school's board of management and the local authority. There has been a shocking lack of project management and oversight here. What has been going on for the past 25 years? What has been going on for the past five years? Why are children and teaching staff freezing in buildings dating from the 1930s and 1960s? How is this school fit for purpose? It is 2021 and with each delay or failure to make a decision, the building section and Department have somehow pushed this project off the priority list. That should no longer be the case.

There have been five boards of management - each sits for four years - and five principals over this timeframe. They have struggled to deliver this project and get it across the line. How many principal officers have come and gone in the Department of Education, yet no school has been built? In 2016, the Department indicated in writing that the project was going to construction with planning approval. Why did the school not proceed at that time?

Scoil an Chroí Naofa is a fantastic school with dedicated and committed teaching staff and special needs assistants, SNAs. Like many other schools, it is opening its doors today. The school takes children from all over Galway, Roscommon and Westmeath. It has an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, class now in a prefabricated building and two language classes. Children with special needs are crying out for a place and there is no space. There has not been space for 25 years.

There are five stages in construction and there is a guide to timelines for school buildings.As a newly elected councillor in 2019, I worked with parents, families and teachers to drive this project. I was of the view that it was moving to stage 3 but that is not the case now. The five stages comprise: stage 1, preliminary design, which takes roughly six months; stage 2a, development of sketch design; stage 2b, detailed design, which takes a year; stage 3, tender action, evaluation and award, which also takes a year; stage 4, construction, which takes two years; and stage 5, handover of works and final account. By this reckoning, the process takes five and half years in all. After 20 years, however, we are still at stage 2b, which involves obtaining all statutory approvals and preparing a set of fully detailed tender documents and an accurate pre-tender cost plan. Why has this not been completed when planning was granted in 2011? Who is accountable for these delays? Who is reviewing the monthly progress updates from the design team and who has been paying this design team for over 20 years? Right now, we need action for the almost 300 children who are in this school and who will not see a new building completed. The children in the area who have been waiting for an ASD unit will be obliged to wait for at least another four years, even if we move the project to stage 3 without any delays.

Some €740 million was allocated in respect of school building projects under Project Ireland 2040. We to see need to see urgent action in this case. I ask the Minister of State to address the following issues on behalf of the Minister? What is the current status of the design and school building project? Who is on the appointed design team? What is the position as to 2016 planning permission, which is null and void and which cannot be extended because there are no building works going on? What is the timeline for the e-tender process for construction of a new two-storey primary school building? Who on earth is going to be the senior principal officer to be assigned with sole responsibility for delivering this project?

There are serious issues at play here. I appreciate the Minister of State’s commitment to special needs and inclusion. This is the only DEIS band 1 school in County Galway. DEIS means delivering of equality of opportunity in schools. How are we treating these children equally?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Dolan for raising this matter because it provides me with an opportunity to outline the current position as to the major building project for Scoil an Chroí Naofa, Ballinasloe, County Galway. I understand that this project is included in the Department’s construction programme, which is being delivered under the national development plan. The brief is to provide for the demolition of the existing school building and the construction of a new school building to include 13 general classrooms with 13 special resource rooms, two speech and language resource rooms and a two-room specialist ASD unit, which the Senator mentioned.

Planning permission was secured for this project in 2011 and an extension to planning was secured in October 2016. The latter expires in November 2021. Unfortunately, as the Senator has correctly pointed out, there have been a number of delays with the project, including a request from the Department to make savings due to a cost overrun, the requirement to appoint a new team of engineers, a number of requests to change the brief relating to the project, the updating of submissions due to the public works contracts and concerns regarding access and planning.

The design team and the board of management presented their most recent brief change request to the Department in March 2020. This was approved in principle, subject to some clarifications, in April 2020. The design team at that time was advised to complete a revised stage 2b report incorporating this brief change in the tender documentation. The design team then forwarded the revised stage 2b report to the board of management for review sign-off and onward transmission to the Department in November 2020. We understand that this has not been received by the Department to date due to concerns raised by the school.

The major building project for this school is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, stage 2b, which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. While all statutory approvals have been secured, however, the Department is still awaiting the final stage 2b report from the school authorities, referred to by the Senator, and the project cannot be progressed without this. In addition, given the impending expiration of the planning permission, it is likely that a new planning application will now be required. My Department met with representatives from the school last month, at their request, to discuss the options available to the school to progress this project and my Department advised them of these. The school authorities are to consider these options and to revert to the Department. The Department also requested the school authorities to send the revised 2b to the Department with the school’s comments for its consideration. At this meeting, I understand that the Department committed to assisting the school to progress the project.

I agree with Senator Dolan that the period relating to this project - she mentioned 20 or 25 years - seems extraordinarily long. It is also extraordinary that the project has not come to fruition.It has not happened yet but there is collaboration. We have to continue the dialogue between the board of management, the local authorities, the Department of Education and the school. This is really important for the almost 300 children involved. There will be 13 classrooms, 13 special resource rooms and two speech and language resource rooms. More importantly from my perspective, there will be two autistic spectrum disorder, ASD, units, and it is really important we have those. I hear and I share the Senator's frustration and I assure her I will bring the legitimate concern and outrage she raised today to the attention of the building unit and the Minister, Deputy Foley. Whatever the reasons for the delay, this project needs to be progressed because these school children should not be disadvantaged.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is important we get clear timelines from the Department. I request that the design team completes the current specification request of Galway County Council and meets the safety requirements, such as safe drop-off and pick-up zones, that the Department of Education commit to co-fund the land outside the school buildings section, that new planning permission be submitted by the design team by the end of April 2021 and that there is a commitment from the design team to get that planning permission in by the end of April 2021 for a decision by May-June 2021 by Galway County Council. The Department of Education should be considering stage three by June-July 2021. This school should be funded this year. It is an urgent priority. I want a dedicated monthly meeting with all stakeholders to be led by the Department of Education with updates on timelines. This should happen every month to ensure we get this project across the line. There should be no more delay with this project. I thank the Minister of State for her support on this.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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As I said, I share the Senator's frustration in relation to this and I will bring the sentiments she has expressed in the Chamber to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the building unit. Obviously, the design team has to liaise in a close way with the school and the board of management to ensure we try to get this school built as soon as possible. As the Senator pointed out, my understanding is that the planning permission is due to expire in November this year. If there is any way to get a start on the building work prior to the expiration of the planning permission, it is definitely worth pursuing that. If that is not possible, then a new planning application needs to be submitted in early course so that we get this school up and running. I know the Senator's passion for this school. It is a DEIS-band school in County Galway. It is important to be aware that there is emergency funding available for any minor works needed to keep the children safe and warm in the school.