Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 May 1996

Vol. 147 No. 10

Adjournment Matters. - PE Facilities at Raphoe (Donegal) School.

Mr. McGowan

I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for allowing me to raise this matter and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Currie, for coming here to reply.

There is a serious problem in Raphoe, County Donegal. Back in 1976, negotiations started with the Department of Education to provide PE facilities adjoining Raphoe vocational school. The local parents and community groups contributed almost £100,000 towards this hall and £45,000 towards the purchase of two playing fields. I know of no other community or parents groups which have contributed to the same extent and it is for this reason I feel compelled to ask the Minister to take on board this strong case for funding.

They have had numerous negotiations with the Department but without any success. In 1986, an extension to the school was opened by the then Minister of State, Mr. Dónal Creed, who agreed to undertake the provision of funding for the PE hall — the only thing which prevented him announcing it on the day was that the bill of quantities was not in order. There is a long history of disappointments. It appeared the Department was not going to proceed with the hall or help with its provision, so the local group had plans drawn up at no cost and obtained planning permission. In 1994 work on the hall was started and on 10 August that year the group received a £20,000 grant from the national lottery, which is the only funding the community and parents groups received for building their magnificent hall. I compliment the Donegal People's Press for its full page article about the hall on 10 April, which I will supply to the Minister and any other interested parties.

This is a case of sheer neglect by the Department of Education. Many people have described its lack of interest and input into the PE hall as another example of its attitude towards vocational education. I find that hard to accept. I attended the official opening of an extension to St. Columba's College in Stranorlar, at which the school's energetic principal thanked the Department for its assistance towards the provision of a PE hall there. Less than a mile away from Raphoe vocational school, the Royal and Prior School has a gym and PE hall. It is hard for the public representatives for that part of Donegal, which includes Raphoe, to tell the local people that we have been unsuccessful in persuading the Department of Education to contribute towards the PR hall for the Raphoe vocational school.

I know the Minister of State will take this motion seriously. I ask him to look at the file and make an honest and fair assessment of the case which has been made down the years. If he can exonerate the Department in this regard, I will accept that; but I do not believe he can, because the Department totally ignored this matter. I am most anxious not to politicise my contribution, but before the Donegal North-East by-election, the Minister for Education visited a school in Milford. An excuse was made that she was not too well, and I am sorry if that was the case. However, one can only suspect her motives, because I am concerned that she did not consider it worth her while to stop at Raphoe vocational school, about which her Department has a thick file. It is extra-ordinary. Taking into account the neglect of the Department and the Minister's attitude to the contribution and input made by the parents of Raphoe, one must wonder whether she is fit to be Minister. I told her previously in this House that people perceive her as being solely concerned with education in Dublin and that she does not know and is not interested in what is happening outside the capital. Unfortunately, my greatest fear has been realised.

I wish to be positive — I did not come here to complain about the Minister, but given the history of Raphoe, I have to do so. I make these points in the hope that the Minister of State will now recognise the neglect and ensure that some contribution is made by the Department. It will take £100,000 to finish the PE hall, which is built and roofed. That is not a huge sum — one could spend almost that much on an architect, a consultant, a quantity surveyor, a site, planning permission and a planning fee. The Minister of State has some grasp of the patience of the northern people, but the patience of the people of Raphoe who have contributed towards a PE hall has been exhausted. They are on a war footing and will continue to remind the Minister and the Department of their neglect in this matter.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Currie)

I thank the Senator for raising the matter. However, despite his protestations to the contrary, he has politicised the issue. I regret some of the personal comments made about the Minister for Education.

The Senator has given me an opportunity to outline the current position regarding the provision of PE facilities at Raphoe vocational school and I would like to give some brief details of the background to this case. In the early 1980s the Department of Education was considering the provision of a PE hall in Raphoe, provided it would serve the needs of the Royal and Prior School, the vocational school and the local community. In the absence of local agreement regarding the siting of a single facility to meet these needs, the Department had to consider alternative suggestions regarding how best they might be served, bearing in mind that it was not possible to provide PE halls at all second level schools.

Since the Department of Education had approved the provision of 1875 square metres in permanent accommodation to bring the capacity of Raphoe vocational school to 425 places, it was considered that an extension to the general purpose area would provide modest PE facilities with changing rooms and showers. The vocational education committee proposed that the PE hall be constructed as a separate building. Subsequently, in 1982 construction on the extension, excluding PE facilities, commenced.

The vocational education committee initiated architectural planning of a separate hall without the Department's approval and processed it to the stage where formal presentation of its outline design proposals to the Department was completed in January 1984. In view of the particular circumstances of this case and the promise of a local contribution towards the project, the proposals were examined and found acceptable to the Department of Education. Architectural planning of the project proceeded. There followed protracted correspondence with the vocational education committee to bring the cost of the project within cost limits. These difficulties were resolved towards the end of 1986. However, because of the financial situation it was not possible to proceed further with the project.

Given the limited resources available, the priority as far as the second level capital programme of the Department of Education is concerned continues to be the provision of essential classroom accommodation. However, under the Department's recreational facilities scheme, funding to the amount of £20,000 was approved in 1994 for the construction of a community hall on the site of Raphoe vocational school.

The present policy of the Department is to provide PE facilities in all major extensions or in new school developments and on a phased basis at all second level schools where such facilities are not already available. The Department has before it at present a large number of applications for second level school building projects involving the provision of urgently needed classroom accommodation in addition to a large number of applications for sports halls. The capital allocation to the Department is not adequate to meet all these demands and, as I have already stated, the available financial resources must be reserved for the provision of essential classroom accommodation.

I have known the Senator for a long time and I am sorry, if only for old time's sake, I have not been able to give him a better answer. I have a similar problem in my own constituency.