Deputy Stagg has been given permission to raise the matter of the gross overcrowding in unsuitable prefabricated buildings at the CBS secondary school, Naas, despite repeated undertakings since 1985 to provide agreed accommodation. Deputy Stagg has five minutes.
Adjournment Debate. - Naas (Kildare) School Accommodation.
It is unusual that the Minister is not in the House to take the debate. What is the position and who will reply to the debate?
I will reply on behalf of the Minister.
It is unsatisfactory that the Minister has not seen fit to come in to the House. I have only five minutes and I ask the Minister not to interrupt me.
This is a Government of collective responsibility.
It is a Government of disorganised responsibility at the moment.
The reason I raise this matter is that there is an accommodation crisis on the CBS secondary school in Naas. I sought to raise it because of the history of this case. A letter issued from the Department of Education on 24 July 1985 requested the school to upgrade its intake to 600 pupils. The request was made by the Department to the school authorities to raise the pupil intake from 450 to 600 pupils and to expand their catchment area to specifically include the Kill catchment area where a second level school had been refused by the Department.
Arising from this prefabricated accommodation had been provided at the Naas Christian Brothers school. That is now at an advanced stage of delapidation. It is certainly a disadvantaged educational environment for the pupils there and, arising from gross overcrowding, there is a risk of injury to the pupils and to their health. Naas is a growing town and further additional accommodation will be required. Five years on from 1985 serious doubt was cast by the Minister for Education on the proposals for the additional accommodation at Naas CBS. In reply to a parliamentary question on 6 March 1990 the Minister said a review of all building programmes was being completed and arising from that, no dates or concrete proposals could be given for Naas CBS. However, on 20 November 1990 in reply to another parliamentary question the Minister indicated that that review had been completed and the 1985 decision had been confirmed. Naas seemed to be back on track from that reply.
I should like the Minister of State to confirm that the 1985 proposals are continuing and that the review which took place in between has not affected the provision of additional accommodation at Naas CBS. In the context of the Department's geography in mapping out the stages of various projects at various times, this school is at stage III.
I want to warn the Minister and the House that next September no new pupils from the catchment area which has been allocated to Naas will be taken in by this school. There is no room for new pupils in Naas CBS and they will have to be turned away. As a result there will have to be restricted access to the school. There is no other school in that area to which these pupils can go. As I have said, the population in this area is growing rapidly with many new housing developments. These are not housing developments for first time house buyers; they are housing developments for second and third time house buyers who have children at second level schools. These children as well as children from outlying areas will have to be refused access to the school if action is not taken by the Minister in the very near future.
The Minister has a policy of providing classroom space as a first priority. Naas CBS fits perfectly into that policy category. I ask the Minister to ensure that there will be some definite action during 1991 where bricks will be put on bricks at this school rather than continuing the present position where paperwork is being sent around in circles with no definite end in sight.
The school authorities, including the management of the school, the parents' association and others, have sought a meeting with the Minister. I ask the Minister of State to impress upon the Minister for Education the usefulness of meeting such a deputation and the positive results there will be of informing the parents at first hand of her intentions regarding Naas CBS. As I have said, her reply to the parliamentary question on 20 November seemed to indicate that the position in relation to this school is positive. We are now basically talking about a timescale and crisis point will be reached in September next year.
I am very pleased to be here on behalf of my Government colleagues the Minister for Education, Deputy O'Rourke, and her Minister of State, Deputy Fahey. Both Ministers are engaged in Government business outside the House and had hoped to be back by 5 p.m. to reply to this debate. However, as business was terminated earlier than expected, regretfully it was not possible for them to be here. However, having collective responsibility as members of the Government, I am very pleased to be here on their behalf——
I accept that.
——and to reply to the matters raised concerning the proposed extension to the CBS secondary school in Naas, County Kildare.
If I may, I would like to give a brief outline of the background to this project in order to put the matter in context and to illustrate both the careful planning that goes into all such building projects and also the effect which changing economic and financial circumstances can have on school planning.
The initial plans and discussions for the extension of this school commenced in 1985. Careful consideration of the various aspects of the planning and design process, such as the assessment of the school's requirements, the preparation of detailed schedules of accommodation and examination of the suitability of the site involved, were carried out in the normal way. Following agreement on the site's suitability, a planning briefing meeting with the school representatives and the design team took place in early 1987 to advance the project. Following this meeting, the outline sketch scheme was received from the design team and subjected to careful examination by the Department of Education's technical and professional staff.
In the following year, 1988, progress on the planning of the project was affected by the amount of capital finance available for building projects which was restricted in line with the Government's commitment to reducing the national debt.
Accordingly, in common with many other projects there was little scope to advance the project at the CBS Naas. While the Minister for Education accepts that this was very regrettable, it was one of the unavoidable consequences of the very necessary measures required to deal with the economic circumstances faced by the Government at that time which placed very severe constraints on the availability of funds for the Public Capital Programme generally. I should point out, however, that due to the particular circumstances of this school, the Minister for Education had the position reviewed towards the end of 1988 and she was pleased to be able to advance the planning of this project at that time.
Since then the architectural planning has proceeded to the stage where a developed sketch scheme has been prepared. As part of the planning process, however, it is also necessary to critically review requirements at periodic intervals in order to confirm that the proposals will meet the school's needs fully. Therefore, in common with other such projects the accommodation proposed for this school had to be reviewed in the light of general demographic trends in the area and projected enrolments for this school.
This review of the project is expected to be completed shortly and the building unit of the Department of Education will be in contact with the school authorities as soon as possible. I must point out, however, as has been evident from my earlier remarks, that the rate of progress of this and all other such projects is dependent on the availability of capital resources and on the Department of Education's other commitments and priorities. Therefore, while we fully appreciate the difficulties being encountered by the school at present, I am not in a position to say when precisely it will be possible to proceed with the contract for this project. However, I will ensure that the planning arrangements are completed as quickly as possible so that construction can commence as soon as circumstances allow. I will convey the Deputy's sentiments to the Minister for Education.
When the Government came into office in 1987 and the Minister for Education, Deputy O'Rourke, took up her appointment, there were 750 projects unattended to and needing replacements, repairs or extensions at a total projected cost of approximately £1.5 million. Since then the Minister has done her utmost to ensure that timing, red tape, bureaucracy and unnecessary delays have been minimised as much as possible and several projects have been released by her Department.
I should point out that student admission is a matter for the management of any school. The Deputy can be assured that the children coming from the catchment area of any school will be guaranteed admission to that school and that whatever facilities are necessary to ensure that provision is made for their attendance at the school will be made by the Minister and her Department. If there are any difficulties in that area the school authorities should communicate with the Minister for Education who will attend to them.