Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 18 Jun 2003

Vol. 173 No. 10

Adjournment Debate. - Schools Building Projects.

Mr. Kitt

Brierfield national school is one of 289 projects at the early stage of architectural planning in the Department of Education and Science. I understand it is in band 3. The school has no cloakroom, hot water or toilets. That is a serious situation when one has a three teacher school with 63 pupils. There are several young families in the area and every indication numbers in the school will probably increase.

The board of management of the school is anxious that the Minister looks at a pilot initiative to provide funds for indoor toilets, which are obviously badly needed. The school also seeks enlargement of one classroom as the building is 110 years old which means the rooms are, therefore, much smaller than the minimum recommended size, with children crammed together in stuffy rooms. This is not an environment conducive to learning, nor is it satisfactory from a safety point of view, as children are more prone to bump into things in an overcrowded room. A resource teacher room and a storage room are also needed. There are only three rooms and three teachers in the school and rooms are needed for learning support, school administration and so on. This work is all done in the corridor which is draughty, cluttered with coats and bags and offers no privacy.

Brierfield national school is not on the list of large-scale projects. The board of management is concerned that its needs are not progressing under the programme. Children need better facilities now, not in ten years time. The school is not looking for luxuries but for basic facilities which other schools have had for years. The board of management is very capable and the parents' committee interested in the welfare of the children. I hope the response from the Department will state the school will be included in the pilot initiative and funds will be provided. The board of management would spend the funds wisely. The building work is to be done in two phases. If this was approved, a modern school and a healthier, more spacious environment would be provided for the deserving children of Brierfield national school.

Mr. Callely

I am glad the Senator has given me the opportunity to outline the current position of the Department of Education and Science on the proposed major building project at Brierfield national school, Ballinasloe, County Galway. The current position is that the large-scale building project for the school is listed in section 7 of the 2003 schools building programme which the Minister for Education and Science published on the Department's website, www.education.ie. The project is at an early stage of architectural planning and has been assigned a band 3 rating by the Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects. However, primary school projects listed in sections 6 and 7 are not being authorised to progress beyond their current stage of architectural planning for the time being. The timing of when such projects can progress to tender and construction will depend on the budgetary allocation for 2004 and subsequent years, as well as the priority afforded to each project by reference to the band rating.

The position on the pilot initiative referred to by the Senator is that 20 primary schools were invited to participate in the pilot phase of the initiative. The Department chose the 20 schools following detailed assessment and the initiative will be reviewed at the end of 2003 with a view to its expansion, subject to available funding, to other small primary schools in 2004.

Given the Senator's special interest in Brierfield national school and developing educational facilities, I invite him to work with the office of the Minister in the latter part of this year and into 2004 to see what can be done. In the intervening time individual schools should use their devolved grants to deal with any urgent health and safety works. I thank the Senator for giving me this opportunity to outline the current position.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 19 June 2003.