Seanad debates
Thursday, 7 December 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
School Facilities
9:30 am
Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I thank him for taking this important Commencement matter I have tabled. It relates to St. Anne's Secondary School in Tipperary town. I have two questions for the Minister of State. One relates to an application for additional space, essentially for an extension or new building for the students and the school. It is important. They have a lot of space in the area to build on. I was in the school recently with the principal, John Cullinane. The principal, staff and board of management do great work, but the school is not fit for purpose. It needs to be a modern facility for the girls in the school. I would appreciate an update on the application that has been made.
My more immediate request is for an update on the school meals programme, which the Minister of State and the Department of Social Protection are very much involved in. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Department have done a lot to roll out free school meals in recent years, which has been hugely welcome and is a massive support for schools, especially in disadvantaged areas. The problem we have in Tipperary and in St. Anne's Secondary School is that it is the only school in Tipperary town that is not classed as a DEIS school. A year or two ago, all five primary schools and one of the secondary schools in Tipperary town were classed as DEIS schools, which means they receive the advantage of free school meals. St. Anne's Secondary School has students who come from the same areas of the same region, Tipperary town and its hinterland and 48% of its current enrolment comes from those DEIS schools.
Prior to the primary schools being allocated DEIS status in September 2022, St. Anne's Secondary School was still the only school that could not access the school meals programme. The rationale provided for this at the time was that the school was not a DEIS school. However, the other schools were not DEIS schools either at the time and they could access the school meals programme. The school meals funding is administered through the Department of Social Protection and St. Anne's Secondary School requires recognition of being in a disadvantaged community and that the cohort of students it serves come from a disadvantaged area. Tipperary town is a Revitalising Areas through Planning, Investment and Development, RAPID, programme town but it is one of the most disadvantaged areas in Munster. The way the school meals programme looks at it relates to whether a school is a DEIS school. The understanding is that the school meals scheme is confined to DEIS schools in addition to schools identified by the Department of Education as having levels of concentrated disadvantage, meaning that their students would benefit from access to the school meals programme. St. Anne's Secondary School fits the criterion of being in an area of disadvantage. All other schools in the area are DEIS schools. We do not necessarily immediately have to class it as a DEIS school, but we can provide the school meals programme if we can get agreement from the Department of Education, which seems simple given that every other school in Tipperary town has it. It should be classed as a school in a concentrated disadvantaged area so that it can be provided with free school meals.
It is a wonderful school with wonderful children, but as the Minister of State will be aware, some children do not come to school having been fed. The primary concern of the principal, the board of management and all the staff in that school is the welfare of their students and they know that they are not receiving equal support from the Department compared to the other schools in Tipperary town.
Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Norma Foley, who is otherwise engaged. I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides the Department with the opportunity to clarify the current position of St Anne’s Secondary School, Rosanna Road, Tipperary town. The answer I have is largely from the Department of Education. The school meals programme is largely administered by the Department of Social Protection. I wanted to put that proviso at the start of my response.
St Anne’s Secondary School is a girls-only multi-denominational post-primary school under the patronage of the Catholic Education - an Irish Schools Trust, CEIST. The school is one of three post-primary schools in the Tipperary school planning area. The school has an enrolment of 292 students in the school year 2023-24. I can confirm that St. Anne’s Secondary School submitted an application for additional school accommodation under the Department of Education’s additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and accommodation for students with special educational needs is available to cater for students enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation or other schools in the area.The school’s application was for capital funding for a physical education, PE, hall and changing facilities, a lift and a specialised room to cater for the subjects of technology and graphics. Investment and expenditure on PE halls is an element of the overall expenditure and investment in the school building programme. The provision of rooms and PE halls at primary and post-primary level respectively and outdoor hard play areas form part of the accommodation brief for all new school buildings or where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school.
Since 2020, the Department of Education has invested in the region of €3.5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of more than 690 school building projects and with construction currently under way on approximately 300 other projects. School building projects in construction involve an overall State investment of more than €1.2 billion. There are also 200 modular accommodation projects that are very well advanced for delivery or at construction stage. This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government’s strong track record in delivering and providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.
A further strengthened focus on refurbishment of existing school stock will have different strands and will include a PE build and modernisation programme which will enable students in post-primary schools to have access to appropriate facilities to support PE provision, particularly in the context of the roll-out of PE as a leaving-certificate subject. Enhanced and modernised PE facilities will also provide important amenities for local communities. However, the main focus of the Department’s capital funding over the past decade and for the coming period is on provision of critical additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics and children with special education needs. The Department is required to manage the overall school building programme so that we target and prioritise areas that are under greatest pressure for additional school places. This reflects the Department’s fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child. The overall position with regard to potential modernisation and replacement of existing school infrastructure will be kept under review as capital funding allocations for future years are clarified. The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform will be engaging with Departments on NDP allocations for the period 2026 to 2028 over the coming months, with allocation decisions expected during the first half of 2024.
I can confirm that this school’s application under the ASA scheme is currently under consideration, taking into account the school’s immediate and future needs for essential accommodation. A determination will issue to the school authorities shortly.
In regard to the second application referenced, the school meals programme currently provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations benefiting 260,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. This programme is funded and administered by the Department of Social Protection and officials in that Department have been asked to liaise with the school with respect to its application.
Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response, much of which related to the capital funding for developments. That is important in the long term. In regard to his response on school meals, he said the Department is going to liaise with the school with respect to its application. I thank him for that. The principal himself is willing to meet with either the Minister for Education or the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. Essentially it is a communication issue between both Departments. If, as the Minister of State said, the school meals programme is budgeting for a further 900 primary schools for 2024, will the Minister of State prioritise this school in that group? There is a feeling within the community that this school has been left behind and is not receiving the same supports that all other schools in Tipperary town receive. Will the Minister of State and the Department rectify that in the next round, when 900 primary schools will receive this in 2024? Tipperary town has been a priority for his Department for the past number of years on a range of issues such as Social Protection and I ask that this would be supported.
Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue and for giving the Department the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department is committed to ensuring that all children can access education suitable to their needs. I take the Senator's point in regard to the school meals programme. Deputy Humphreys and I are committed to rolling this out to as wide a group as possible. There has been significant growth in this over recent years. The coming 12 months will see one of the biggest leaps we have made. It is a no-brainer in terms of the policy going forward. It is a question of resourcing it in a fair way in order to make school meals available to all children as soon as possible.