Vol. 509 No. 3
2 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Science the schools which have represented to his Department that their buildings are below the required standard, substandard in any other sense or in need of replacement; the plans, if any, he has to ensure that no child will have to receive education in such a school by the beginning of the school year in September 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20191/99]
My Department does not keep a running record year-on-year of applications from schools for capital, but the total number of capital projects currently being progressed by my Department's building unit is in excess of 2,000 at primary and post-primary levels. These relate to a wide range of issues, not simply substandard accommodation.
In 1996 prior to my coming into office the capital provision for primary and post-primary schools was £62.9 million. This year's corresponding provision is £147.2 million. Those figures clearly illustrate the Government's commitment to improving the physical fabric of our schools and significant progress has been made in the elimination of substandard accommodation in the recent past. Arrangements are under way to conduct a comprehensive survey of accommodation at primary and post-primary levels to determine more accurately the level of need among schools. It is envisaged that every school in the State will be visited by suitably qualified personnel who will thoroughly inspect the condition of each school and report findings to my Department. This information will be used to target funding more precisely where the need is greatest.
In addition to the measures outlined, in recent years a devolved grant amounting to £12 million per annum has been introduced at primary level. The purpose of this grant is to enable school authorities to undertake minor improvement works at a local level without further departmental involvement. I am currently considering introducing a similar scheme for post-primary schools.
My Department is also considering new planning guidelines for school buildings to ensure that new buildings and major renovations and extensions will be built to the most modem standards.
Clearly, capital projects of their nature take time to complete and in the circumstances it is not realistic to expect that ideal accommodation will be available for every student by September 2000. I reiterate my commitment to significantly improving the standard of accommodation in our schools and am confident that significant progress will be made during the term of office of the Government.
I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. However, my question was not about ideal settings for the education of children but rather dealt with substandard, unhygenic and unsafe buildings. I find it difficult to understand that the Department is unable to count the letters it has received from boards of management, parents and teachers concerning the number of such schools. While I am as interested as the Minister in the survey which will be carried out by the Department, could he not provide me with the information I sought in the interim, namely, the number of schools that do not meet the criteria of safety and health or which are substandard? I was not suggesting that the buildings be in an ideal condition by September 2000, I was simply seeking an assurance that no child would be educated in such a school by that date. At a time when there are capital funds available it would be a wonderful millennium project to give me the assurance sought.
That is the reason we are undertaking an inventory of school accommodation. We have moved on all the emergency cases of substandard accommodation that have been brought to our attention by school boards of management. We do not however have an exact figure. That is the reason we are undertaking a comprehensive inventory which will cost a significant amount of money but which is necessary. Within the Department there are up to 2,000 projects and applications which relate to health and safety matters, extensions, expansion of pupil-teacher numbers and so on.
This is all very fine but I must come back to the text of the question. When a school ceiling falls in it is an emergency. Let me give an example of what I have in mind and why I would not be happy with the idea of waiting for an inventory followed by programmes of works. There is a second level school in Carraroe to which refurbishment works have been carried out over three or four years and which is in a hopeless condition even when the work is allegedly completed. I am asking a simple but interesting question. When parents, teachers and others consider that a school is unsafe, does not meet health standards and is substandard, they write to the Department. I gave plenty of notice of this question. How many such letters are there in the Department? I do not have a difficulty with the Minister's inventory – I look forward to its completion – but surely it is known how many primary and second level schools have been described by those who wrote as not meeting these basic requirements. That is the information I am seeking.
I am also seeking an assurance that a once-off capital programme will be sought to eliminate the backlog. If I am wrong, the Minister should tell me, he should tell me that there are no such letters in the Department, but I am entitled to know what ones are there. If one has a child in such a classroom one will not be encouraged by a statement that an inventory is being undertaken to find out how many others are in the same condition. Will the Minister seek additional capital funds to put the matter right by the year 2000?
With respect, the Deputy is being unfair. There has been a dramatic increase in capital funding in the past two years. It has been extraordinary.
That is PR stuff.
The Deputy does not know all that. He is not even referring to it.
I am not a PR agency.
I do not expect the Deputy to be, but he is a PR agency in the other direction. He mentioned Carroroe where the issue was not the provision of funding. Funding was provided. It was not an issue of people not knowing about it—
What was the issue?
The issue was whether the project had been completed to the satisfaction of the board of management. We provided the money. It is a separate issue. With all due respect, people realise when the ceiling is falling in. It would be wrong to say that we should depend only on people writing letters to us. That would not be a satisfactory way of identifying need.
It is a straightforward way of dealing with it. How many Carraroes are there?
We are not waiting for the inventory to plough more capital in. We are seeking additional capital and have ploughed enormous amounts of capital moneys in.
