Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for joining us. A year ago I tabled a similar matter and the Minister of State was also kind enough to respond on that occasion.

I am seeking an update from the Department of Education on the status of two school building projects in Ballinasloe in the context of capacity for children at primary level. I am referring to Scoil an Chroí Naofa, with which the Minister of State is familiar and also to the site acquisition for St. Teresa's Special School. The Minister of State has visited St. Teresa's Special School and is familiar with its location in Ballinasloe. I am seeking a response today on the status of these projects.

Since raising the project at Scoil an Chroí Naofa last year, there has been very positive engagement between the design team, the school's board of management, the principal, Ms Christine Connor, and Galway County Council. There were challenges related to access roads for the new school building and Galway County Council was to engage with the Department of Education to reach an agreement on how this would be managed going forward. The design team also had to add three additional classrooms to the plans, which have now gone back to the Department for review.

We need to move this on. I want to see this school building included in the Department's capital infrastructure plans for this year, as a priority project. We need to move this along so that it can be considered in June or July for the 2023 budget. Scoil an Chroí Naofa caters for close to 300 children.The children have to cross roads to get to the school, which was created in 1996. We are all aware of this. The families have gone through the school. There are parents - mums and dads - who were promised a school and who now have their own children going to the school. I would appreciate any update the Minister of State can give me on the issue.

Second, I am asking about the site acquisition for St. Teresa's Special School, which is dedicated to the education of children with moderate, severe and profound special needs and autism. We are very fortunate to have the school. The 11 students have now increased to 36. In the past week we have also seen an announcement for two extra classrooms for additional accommodation, which was very welcome, because the children there were in the canteen. They now have a space. I got to visit it last week with the Minister of State and the principal, Anita O'Reilly, and it was phenomenal to see the space that is there for children. As well as that, the Minister of State will be delighted to know that they held their own St. Patrick's Day parade a day before St. Patrick's Day. All the children came out festooned with decorations and were walking or in wheelchairs with their carers. It was pure joy for families and children in that school. We need to deliver a proper school and adequate space for the children. The Department of Education indicated that a 4-acre site had been secured with the HSE. Could I request an update on what stage this is at? Has the property been secured and is the process finalised? Is it at stage 1 preliminary design or has it moved to stage 2 design? Who is the contact for the board of management and the principal in the school?

I appreciate the Minister of State's time and her consideration of these questions. I acknowledge the work of the board of management with the special educational needs organisers, SENOs, who put forward the case to justify the need for the space in Ballinasloe. We want to welcome and support families coming to our area from Ukraine in our schools but how are we going to do that when we cannot even accommodate the children who are there at the moment? The schools are already over capacity.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Dolan for raising the matter, which she raised previously. It is a major building project that is planned for Scoil an Chroí Naofa, and there is also the major building project for St Teresa's Special School. I will deal with Scoil an Chroí Naofa first.

As the Senator is aware, it 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 16 general classrooms, with 13 special resource rooms, two speech and language resource rooms and a two-room special educational needs, SEN, unit. Senator Dolan mentioned that there has been considerable delay. I agree that has been the case. There has been back and forth between the local authority and many different stakeholders regarding the matter, which has been less than satisfactory. However, some of the questions were legitimate and had to be answered. I note that there is a review of the specifications for the provision of the extra three classrooms currently with the Department. Once the review is complete, comments will issue to the board of management and its design team in order that we can bring the project forward. It is unfortunate sometimes that with the best will in the world these things can be delayed. It is going to take everybody to come together to try to resolve all of the issues.

The Department is in communication with the school authorities and its design team and is committed to assisting the school in every way it possibly can. We want to make sure that children have access to a proper building in order that they can learn the various curriculums they need to learn in a satisfactory way. I understand that the design team has been asked to review all of the plans it has been given. Until planning permission is secured, it will not be possible to give a timeline for the project proceeding to tender stage. The planning and building unit is under the remit of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, but she will be aware of the fact that this issue has been raised in the Seanad today. The Department will be aware that Senator Dolan has tabled this matter for discussion in a Commencement debate. That will concentrate minds in terms of delivering on this project.

I visited St. Teresa's Special School with Senator Dolan. It is a wonderful school environment with a wonderful principal in Anita O'Reilly and her incredible team. It was a very special day when we were able to announce the fact that the school would be moving.It will be a brand new, eight classroom special school with significant ancillary accommodation on a greenfield site. At the moment it is providing for 36 pupils. It will probably be in a position to expand. At present it is in temporary accommodation in two temporary classrooms to deal with immediate needs. The Department is in communication with school authorities around the appointment of a design team and a progression of the project into architectural planning. I understand it is at an advanced stage of the conveyancing process, which is positive. It is moving, albeit that it sounds slowly, but there is always a process when talking about conveyancing. The i's need to be dotted and the t's crossed. It is happening incrementally. As Minister of State with responsibility for special education I have asked the building and planning unit to make sure that this is expedited as soon as possible because obviously our children with additional needs who are most vulnerable are in less than satisfactory conditions at the moment and we want to make sure that they are rehoused in a more satisfactory way.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I know there are always reasons for these delays but it is so frustrating because, what do we say to these parents? What do we say to these children when it goes on year after year? What I would ask is that the Department with the design team, having worked with Galway County Council - and again to acknowledge there has been very positive engagement over the past 12 months - submit the application for planning. As the Minister of State said, until it goes through to planning, until we get the statutory approvals through planning permission from Galway County Council, we cannot move to the next stage. I want to see that happen. That has to happen. Last year I believed that was going to happen in April or June. I thought we would be at a different stage right now with this school.

I understand there has been accommodation for extra students and all of this has to happen. However, I am asking for the Department to prioritise this project in particular, that we would support them every step of the way, be it supporting the board of management and the design team which is engaging proactively with Galway County Council. Meetings have been set up on this issue.

I thank the Minister of State for the information on St. Teresa's Special School. It is absolutely crucial that we see that project move and I understand that it is now at stage 2, the design stage. Is that correct? The lands comprising a 4-acre site have been transferred from the HSE to the Department of Education.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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To clarify, in terms of St. Teresa's Special School, once a design team has been appointed the project can commence stage 1 of architectural planning which is the preliminary design stage. As I said I am doing all I can to make sure that is expedited because they are children with additional needs. I know the school, the incredible team and staff there and indeed the children. It was wonderful to hear about their St. Patrick's Day festival. I hope that will be expedited as soon as possible.

In regard to Scoil an Chroí Naofa, Galway County Council has had issues with the planning permission but both sides need to resolve the conditions there. The most important aspect of this is communication and that there is ongoing engagement and collaboration to move it forward so that they can get planning permission as soon as possible. There were a number of delays due to the Department having a new team of engineers. For example, there were requests from the local authorities and there were access and planning issues. I think the majority of those have been resolved so now it is a matter of the Department communicating with the school authorities and the design team, and committing to assist the school in every way it possibly can. We are trying to oversee that as best we can.