Seanad debates

Thursday, 20 January 2022

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Schools Building Projects

10:30 am

Photo of Róisín GarveyRóisín Garvey (Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for coming into the Chamber today. Fortunately, we cannot shoot the messenger. The Minister of State is not the Minister for Education but I will go for it anyway.

In light of what we know from the pandemic - we knew that ventilation was important way before the pandemic anyway - and the importance of ventilation for public health, I asked that the Minister for Education make a statement committing to the installation of a whole-school ventilation system in both the new community school in Ennistymon and the new school planned for Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna. In light of the cost of fossil fuels, the climate emergency and the existence of much better technologies than we had when we were building schools in previous years, will the Minister commit to the installation of an air-to-water heating system in both schools also? I have raised this issue on a number of occasions in the past year and a half since my first week in the Seanad. I have raised it directly with the Minister, I have raised it here as a Commencement matter, I have emailed the Department and I have been onto the building section, but I still have not got any commitment. It is not good enough. It is not good enough for the staff who spend all day in the schools. It is not good enough for the pupils. We have rising health issues. With the number of asthma sufferers increasing and air pollution issues, we need ventilation. We do not want it only in the home economics room. That is like what we did in the 1980s, when I went to school. We need ventilation around the entire school. Currently, the design of the school in Ennistymon is only putting ventilation in the home economics room.

The second issue is they are putting in gas boilers, which is an absolute joke in this day and age because the Department has done the research and knows that the best thing to do is to put in air-to-water heating.Currently, the Department is retrofitting schools, removing gas and oil burners and installing air-to-water systems, yet new schools are being built with gas boilers. It is beyond belief that the Department would do this. I welcome the fact there will be many photovoltaic solar panels on the new school, but even that emphasises the ridiculousness of not providing air-to-water systems that run on electricity. That would save money not only for the school but also for the State. It is such a logical step to take. Many professors and experts have talked about the importance of ventilation in schools, while the Minister for Education has committed to providing air monitors and air cleaning systems in schools. Building new schools without proper ventilation and air-to-water systems should be illegal. It is madness. It makes no sense for the climate, for the people who spend all day in schools or for financial reasons, including from the Department’s point of view.

I am seeking a proper commitment today. I have received general replies previously saying the Department is moving towards greener things, ventilation and so on, but I do not want vague points or research. I want a specific commitment in respect of new schools. In Ennistymon, we have been fighting for a secondary school to be built for more than 40 years. The pupils, past and present, and all the parents and staff who have fought for it over the years deserve the best. They deserve whole-school ventilation and air monitors. I could roll off the names of many professors who have spoken in support of this. There is a great man from Sixmilebridge who is head of the school of life sciences at the University of Nottingham. He is an expert in infectious diseases and he has spoken about the absolute necessity of ventilation in schools. I could spend ten minutes talking about the reasons we need ventilation and air-to-water systems. It is obvious why we need both. We needed both before the pandemic and we need them even more now since the pandemic began and in the context of the climate emergency and our climate action plan. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that every Department must reach its carbon targets, but they will not be able to do that if they continue putting in gas and oil burners.

I hope we will get a commitment today from the Minister for Education. I appreciate the Minister of State is not the Minister at that Department, but I hope the Minister for Education gave a commitment to him when she received notice of the Commencement matter. I will not let this one go because, if it is happening in Ennistymon and Lisdoonvarna, I presume it is happening in other parts of the country as well. It is great to install the photovoltaic panels to make the school look green but it is not green if a gas burner is being installed, and it is not a healthy school for the students or the staff if there is ventilation in the home economics room but not anywhere else. It is 2022 now and we know a lot more than we did in the past. We cannot build schools designed with 1980s or 1990s thinking in 2022.

Photo of Frank FeighanFrank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising these issues. It gives me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education, to outline to the House the Department’s position on the Ennistymon community school and Mary Immaculate Secondary School, Lisdoonvarna, building projects, as well as the Department's approach to climate action in new-build schools. The Department is at the forefront of design with respect to sustainable energy in school buildings and this performance has been recognised at both national and international levels, with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design and specification. New renewable technologies and approaches are tested to ensure compatibility with school design and operational requirements under the research programme. Successful and repeatable results are then incorporated into all new-school designs and refurbishments through the Department's technical guidance documents, which set out the benchmark for sustainable design in school buildings with a clear focus on energy efficiency. The Department's policy is supported by a strong research programme, with 53 research projects at various stages, including the energy website energyineducation.ie, a joint partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Schools, including Ennistymon community school, that are designed and built in accordance with the Department's technical guidance documents have been achieving A3 building energy ratings, BERs, since 2009, with schools typically achieving a performance up to 20% higher than required by the current building regulations, along with 10% of primary energy provided via photovoltaics and infrastructure provision for electric-vehicle charging. For instance, Ennistymon community school will include an A3 BER standard; a fully evaluated natural ventilation strategy for all spaces; a 20% higher energy performance and a 25% better carbon performance than required by the 2019 building regulations, even though the school was designed pre-2019; 10% of primary energy provided via photovoltaics; and provision to enable energy supply companies to sell renewable biomass heat to the school under the support scheme for renewable heat, SSRH, as that type of heat matures as a service in Ireland. The SSRH is a Government funding initiative designed to increase the energy generated from renewable sources in the heat sector. Other provisions will include a system that automatically shuts down power to non-essential electrical power outlets when the school is closed, eliminating energy use out of hours; infrastructure for electric-vehicle charging; rainwater harvesting; CO2monitors; excellent daylight; internal and external LED lighting; variable speed pumping; building management system control of energy, including energy metering; zone and individual room heating control; educational signage drawing attention to environmental aspects of design; and support offered to the school to aid the understanding of energy use and the optimisation of control.

In summary, in the interest of sustainability, the potential of renewables is maximised in school designs while ensuring that renewable applications are properly suited to needs and reflective of school opening hours and school holiday periods. It is critical also that an energy reduction plan be part of any investment in renewable energy applications. I have been provided with a further three or four pages of detail, and while I will not get through it all, I will respond to the Senator directly in my follow-up reply.

Photo of Róisín GarveyRóisín Garvey (Green Party)
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The Minister of State indicated there is a natural ventilation strategy for the school. Does that just mean the use of windows? An air-to-water system is what is needed. Let us not mess around with words. Gas is a fossil fuel. Let us not pretend there is such a thing as green gas because it does not exist and people use some kind of mad terminology to pretend gas is anything other than a fossil fuel. Unless there is going to be a biodigester out the back of the school using the local farmer's slurry, I cannot see how this will be in any way green. If it is not an air-to-water system, it is not climate friendly or carbon reducing.

Both these schools are green schools and have worked hard in the green schools programme. They are both full of students who have great concerns about the climate. Installing any kind of a burner that involves fossil fuels as opposed to air is insane and insulting. I do not understand what a natural ventilation system is. I am talking about a whole-school ventilation system, with vents in the classrooms; I am not talking about windows or an air vent in the home economics room.

We have two clear asks. We want air-to-water heating systems that can be paid for by the photovoltaic panels the Minister of State outlined, instead of paying for gas that will not be produced by the photovoltaic panels, and we want proper ventilation systems that can also be run from the photovoltaic panels in the school. I do not what a natural ventilation strategy means. It sounds as though it refers to opening windows, which is what we have been doing forever.

Photo of Frank FeighanFrank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I will try to determine what exactly the Department means by a natural ventilation system. Work is ongoing on a decarbonisation option for new schools, with a focus on the standard of required design criteria and specification to achieve a net-zero-energy school building and on establishing the trajectory for the integration of suitable solutions on a phased basis in a risk-controlled manner via the credible cost-effective transition to zero-carbon school buildings while ensuring no delays to school accommodation delivery. The Senator mentioned air-to-water, and while I am not an expert on the matter, I am familiar with it. It is certainly a way forward for most buildings, including public buildings, and it has helped many houses that otherwise had high energy bills. Moreover, from the point of view of sustainability and the environment, it seems to tick all the boxes.

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to outline the Department's position on the building projects for Ennistymon community school and Mary Immaculate Secondary School, Lisdoonvarna, as well as on climate action in new-build schools. I will bring her views to the attention of the Minister.