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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Jun 2008

Vol. 656 No. 4

Schools Building Projects.

The third item is in the names of Deputies Joe Carey and Pat Breen.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue. The people of Ennis, parents, staff and pupils, are angry, frustrated and absolutely disgusted at the lack of progress in regard to the provision of a new school building for Ennis national school. Ennis is the county town of Clare, the tidiest town in Ireland, as we were told this week. It is the information age town of Ireland. It is supposed to be the fastest growing town in Ireland. Yet, the position of Ennis national school has remained unchanged for the past ten years — ten years of economic boom which has been squandered.

Ennis national school should be a model for all other schools in County Clare. It should the flagship school. Some 700 pupils attend Ennis national school, which has more prefabs than classrooms. This is a public disgrace. I recently invited Deputy Brian Hayes, the Fine Gael spokesperson on education, to Ennis national school. He was absolutely flabbergasted at what he saw. He said — and he was not exaggerating — that it was the worst case he had ever seen and he has travelled the length and breadth of Ireland. It is shocking that a school should have more prefabs than classrooms. It is not acceptable that pupils are being taught in prefabs and in corridors, that they are asked on a daily basis to attend a school that is clearly 20 years past its sell-by date. The principal, Mr. Gary Stack, is correct that Ennis national school is a monument to institutionalised neglect during the past ten years. The people of Ennis need a solution to the crisis that is Ennis national school.

As I stated earlier, the population of Ennis has increased by 25% since 1999. Ennis, a rapidly expanding area, is every bit as deserving of a school as Dublin, Kildare and Meath. The board of management has played its part. The Bishop of Killaloe has provided a site for playing fields and Ennis town council has rezoned a site for the school. I ask that the Minister for Education and Science visit Ennis national school with a view to moving this project to tender stage.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing Deputy Carey and me to raise this important matter in the House. When our spokesperson on education and science, Deputy Brian Hayes, recently visited Ennis national school at our invitation, he was appalled at what he saw. This school was declared by the INTO in 2003 as substandard on health and safety grounds. Little has changed in the intervening five years. Located at a very dangerous junction, it is more like a concentration camp in appearance than the capital town's primary place of education for its children. It is a nightmare, with 16 prefabs littered all over the yard. A musty smell greets one at the entrance and the flat roof leaks with every downpour. These are Third World conditions indeed.

Children and teachers are forced to battle all types of weather to access their classes. I do not know how the principal, Gary Stack, his teachers and pupils put up with this situation. The Department's school buildings programme is a shambles. This school was originally built in 1971-2 as a 16 classroom school with 40 teachers. The population of Ennis increased from 1996 to 2006 at twice the rate of that of the country as a whole and now stands at 28,704. If this rate of increase continues there will be 38,000 people living in Ennis by 2015. In the Ennis area alone, there are more than 70 prefabs in use, which is a disgrace. The Department is spending €35 million on rent for temporary accommodation while conditions at schools like Ennis national school are deteriorating fast. In February this year, permission was sought and obtained from the Department for two new teachers at the school. However, the Minister is refusing to fund the €300 weekly payment required to provide a shared prefab to accommodate the teachers. The reason given for not funding the prefab is “the school has not shown an accommodation need.” The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O’Keeffe, should come down from his ivory tower in Dublin and visit Ennis national school and see if he could work in these conditions. The penny-pinching of his Department means that these two teachers are forced to work in the school corridors. This would not happen even in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. The Department’s copy book is blotted.

The Minister has no plan, no direction and no ideas. One arm of his Department does not know what the other is doing. Earlier this year, the Department finally advertised in the European journal for a design team. The following day it advised the school that the project would not be going ahead. On Wednesday, 25 June next, parents will withdraw their children from the school in protest at the conditions. They are totally frustrated at the lack of action. A greenfield site is available with zoning and access road infrastructure guaranteed by the diocese and Clare County Council. Additional lands have been provided by the diocese for the provision of two playing fields. Successive Ministers during the past 20 years have done nothing but a sticker and plaster job at Ennis national school, with no effect. It is time the current Minister put in place the foundation blocks for a new school. I appeal to the Minister to take urgent action to address the situation at Ennis national school. There is an urgent need for the Minister to act.

I thank both Deputies for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the position with regard to the proposed building project for Ennis national school in Ennis, County Clare.

All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity, etc., leading ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners.

The plan for Ennis national school is to provide it with a new 32 classroom building on a greenfield site. The Department is providing the building and the diocese is providing the site. The current enrolment is 670 pupils and the staffing comprises a principal, a deputy administrative principal, 25 mainstream assistants, four learning support teachers, three resource teachers, four temporary language support teachers, one temporary resource teacher for Travellers, and one special class teacher.

The proposed building project has been assigned a band one rating because of the extent of the deficit of accommodation required to meet the broader needs of the Ennis area, and the next step for this project is the appointment of a design team. In recent times, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy O'Keeffe, has stated both publicly and to the House that he is not in a position to give the go ahead for any more school building projects, including that for Ennis national school, at the present time.

As he has said before, he does not want to mislead this school or indeed any other school in the same situation by making any suggestions to the contrary.

The Minister is currently in the process of reviewing with his officials the Department's spending plans for this year. This review will not be complete for some time and he will not be making any decision on further capital expenditure until that process is complete. Although under the last national development plan over 7,800 building projects were delivered to provide new and modernised educational infrastructure, the reality is that not all needs can be met together under the last national development plan. They must be met incrementally and in order of priority.

This is why the Department consulted the education partners with regard to prioritisation criteria for the allocation of large-scale capital funding and why these criteria are published. They are clear and unambiguous and they bring an openness and transparency as to how projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme. Not alone has their introduction improved the management of the building programme but they also ensure a clear cut selection process and an orderly advancement, over time, of all school building projects, with the most urgent need being addressed first. They are subject at all times, however, to the availability of funding. Having said that, the project for Ennis national school has a band one rating under the Department's prioritisation criteria. This means that it is well positioned to advance as soon as funding is available.

That could be years.

I hope it is not. With regard to the school's short-term needs, the Department recently refused an application for a portacabin to accommodate a language support teacher and a resource teacher.

As I have already outlined, the school has 13 ex-quota posts or non-mainstream class teachers overall. One of these is based in and shared with another school. Unfortunately, not all applications for temporary accommodation can be approved in a situation when there are tightening economic circumstances.

Does the Minister of State think it is right for children to be taught in corridors?

In such times, where schools have alternative accommodation, such as a general purposes room or library, as is the case with Ennis national school, this should be used as an interim measure.

While the Minister accepts that it is far from ideal for any children to be taught in non-customised accommodation, sometimes this is unavoidable until more favourable economic circumstances prevail. I hope the school authority will realise that the Department does not refuse demonstrably necessary funding applications unless it is not in a position to do otherwise and that, unfortunately, the situation regarding its temporary accommodation application is unlikely to change this year, particularly given the availability of a short-term resolution to the issue within the school itself.

Where did all the Celtic tiger money go?

On a more positive front, Ennis national school can look forward to a brand new school building in time.

In time. When is that?

I assure the Deputies that the Minister for Education and Science and my Department are committed to proceed with this building project as soon as funding is available.

It makes economic sense to go into the school even if it seems otherwise.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise the important issue of Mount Bruis national school in County Tipperary, a school on the outskirts of Tipperary town. It received a devolved grant for development of the school in February 2007 which was greatly appreciated. The school personnel were thankful to the then Minister for Education, Deputy Mary Hanafin, for sanctioning that amount of money. However, they find now that the grant of €485,000 is short of the sum they require. An additional €282,000 is needed to provide what they applied for initially.

The Minister of State will understand the times in which we live. The original application was made in good faith. Now they find that, because of escalating costs across the board, there is the shortfall I mentioned. I hear Deputies from various parts of the country looking for attention for schools. We hear this on a weekly basis and no doubt tomorrow night there will be representations from Deputies for their own areas.

This is a school, however, that that has been sanctioned for an extension. Mount Bruis is a very rural area with a top-class school. In about nine or ten hours from now, kids will walk into that school and they will not be sure of their future. There is a huge concern in this area because 12 years ago the parents and board of management and everybody in that area got together to buy land from an adjacent landowner that would faciliate the sports facilities. These are parents who do not wish for more than is normal, only for the basic amount of money which the Department provided. However, that must now be augmented to make sure that the job can be completed. The stark reality facing the school's board of management is a shortfall of €280,000. They have costed it in every possible way but the grant they received is far less than the sum necessary.

I am not sure if the Minister of State has the answer tonight to the question I have put before him. I shall understand if he does not. I hope, however, that he will give me at least an indication that, at some time in the future, he will be able to give the money required to this school, which has already provided for its own sports facilities. It is the only school in that catchment area which provides education facilities for primary school children. They have done everything they should and all that is needed is that the Department of Education and Science should provide the shortfall. Perhaps the matter I put down was not specific enough in detail and I will understand if the answer is broad but enough to deal with the issue.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me an opportunity of outlining to this House the Department's position regarding the allocation of funding for Mount Bruis national school, Mount Bruis, County Tipperary.

The management authorities of this school applied for and were approved for funding under the 2007 small schools scheme. A grant of €484,000 was sanctioned to enable the provision of extension and the modernisation of the existing school building. The Department moved towards a model of devolving funding, responsibility and authority as appropriate for smallerbuilding projects-refurbishments directly to school management authorities in 2003 with the introduction on a pilot basis of the devolved small schools and permanent accommodation schemes. Owing to the positive feedback from schools the schemes were extended to include additional schools in subsequent years. The small schools scheme allows boards of management to address their accommodation and building priorities with a guaranteed amount of funding and gives them control of the building project.

The intention of the scheme is to provide funding to schools to enable them to undertake desired building projects. The scheme is not intended to leave schools with significant fundraising needs but to allow them to tailor the scope of capital works commissioned to the available funding. A central tenet of the scheme is that the schools granted discretion and funding must equally accept responsibility for prioritisation, adherence to statutory regulations, control of costs and ensuring value for money. The decision on whether to continue participating in the scheme or drop out, if the scope of build is more than the funding envelope permits, is a matter for each school authority.

The authorities of the Mount Bruis school accepted the grant offer and returned a form of undertaking agreeing to comply with the requirements of the scheme in March 2007. A letter and project cost details were received on 1 June 2008 indicating that the school's building proposals would cost €766,000, some €282,000 in excess of the €484,000 on offer to the school. The school requested that the shortfall be funded by the Department and indicated that it was not possible to downscale its building plan. This request for significant additional funding was considered in the Department. However, in line with the original intention of the small schools scheme, it was considered that the school should be encouraged to complete the project within the funding envelope provided and, accordingly, the application for additional grant aid was not granted.

In the current economic climate and with considerable demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to entertain such significant increases in the amounts grant aided to schools. It is the responsibility of the school authorities to manage the resources allocated to them to ensure maximum value for money and to control costs. The board of management should take the necessary steps to ensure that the scope of the works undertaken matches the funding being allowed.

I am sure the Deputy will agree it is important that we ensure grant aid is managed prudently. As he may be aware, a total of €586 million will be spent under the Department's schools building programme this year alone. It is important to ensure that costs are kept under control in the construction of school buildings and that those responsible ensure that value for money is achieved for the taxpayer. In this way, we can ensure completion of the maximum number of projects from within the funds available to the Minister for the schools building programme under the current national development plan.

I thank the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to outline the current position to the House.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 18 June 2008.
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