Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 October 2016
27. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will report on his meeting with members of the board of management of a school (details supplied); the progress on the building project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28385/16]
View answerMy question is on St. Mochta's school which I have heard the Minister mention already. Since we raised this as a Topical Issue matter last week, a packed public meeting of parents and the community in Clonsilla has taken the decision to withdraw their children from school tomorrow and bring them here to the Dáil. Can the Minister give them good news tomorrow and save them doing it again?
The building project for the school to which the Deputy refers is now at an advanced stage of architectural planning. All statutory approvals have been obtained, tender documents have been prepared and the stage 2b submission has been approved by my Department.
I met the school's representatives with the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar and Deputies Joan Burton and Jack Chambers last Wednesday. The school outlined its concerns with regard to the building project and gave me a comprehensive description of the difficulties presented by the current accommodation in the school. I explained the current funding situation and assured the school that this building project is a priority for me when funding is available to allow it to proceed to tender and construction. However, the Deputy will be aware from my answers to previous parliamentary questions that there are a large number of projects authorised to proceed to construction. At the time the latest batch of these were authorised to proceed, St. Mochta's was not in a position to proceed to tender.
The existing contractual commitments fully account for the funding which was allocated for 2016 under the previous Minister. However, the school is on the programme and is a priority and my Department will continue to closely monitor expenditure on the existing contractual commitments over the coming months and, as funding allows, other projects, including the project for the school in question, will be considered for progression through the tender process with a view to starting on site as soon as possible.
There were a number of issues at the meeting we had the other day and my officials met outside the meeting to resolve any remaining issues relating to fees. There is a very active engagement between my Department and the school authorities and we are doing everything to make sure there will be no unnecessary delay. The issue is that I have to be assured the funding can be there to meet the release to tender. That is why the examination of expending commitments is so important. If other funding sources emerge, particularly from the budget, it will put me in a position to deal with some of the issues.
Many of us question how this project has been promised for ten years. The school's board of management agreed to double the number of children attending the school to almost 900. This is a large school yet half of it is not just located in prefabs - in case the Minister believes that - but, rather, in dark, mildewed buildings affected by mould and damp. These are the equivalent of Third World conditions. Parents of children with asthma report they have to regularly collect them from school early and that they miss out on schoolwork as a result. People wonder why - when we are told that there is a recovery and that the Government turned down the potential of billions of euro from Apple, etc. - there is no money for schools. How could building inflation increase so much in six months that a project which was included on the list but in November was removed from it by summer? There can be no conclusion other than there was a rush to get a load of projects on the building list before the general election. I assume there are other schools that have fallen off the list and that people have become cynical about it.
I thank the Minister for clarifying that this project is rightly on the list for the period 2016 to 2021. Although she is now supporting the school community, Deputy Coppinger seems to be suggesting that the project should never have been on the building list. That is wrong and a conscious misunderstanding, as well as a misrepresentation of the circumstances on her part.
The Deputy is not fooling anyone with that.
However, in the past ten years, this project has been deeply unfortunate. Many of the advisory experts to these school building projects, such as architects and so on, went into liquidation owing to the recession and the collapse of the construction industry. Deputy Coppinger knows that as well as I.
Will the Minister reaffirm that, following last week’s meeting - which, unfortunately, Deputy Coppinger did not attend - and the discussions with the school board, huge progress has been made on clarifying the technical issues that were the only barriers remaining to this project, which will cost €10.5 million, proceeding? This is a great school - as the people of Clonsilla deserve - and will the Minister confirm that construction of the new building will commence as early as possible?
I want to reassure both Deputies that this project is on the building programme list. When the previous release of projects was made in April, it had not reached the point of being able to be released to tender because the design stage had not been completed. The matter is a priority from my point of view. Progress has been made as a result of the recent meeting and close engagement is ongoing with the school. We will have to monitor our spending position. Hopefully, in the coming months we will be able to release commitments to go to tender. It is a high priority and I met the parents and teachers. I am fully aware of the pressure the parents and children involved are under. This is an important case.
I do not think it is appropriate to hijack another Deputy’s question to use it to attack them, especially when the Deputy spoke on this school earlier.
On a point of order-----
There is no provision for points of order on Question Time.
As a Member, I am entitled to contribute in respect of any question once it has been answered.
Deputy Burton should resume her seat.
Deputy Burton is already making a show of herself.
There is no regulation against me contributing to the debate on a question.
Could the Deputies please desist?
Parents do not want people like Deputy Burton making mileage out of this by attacking other Members. The key issue is-----
I am supporting the school in question. I wish Deputy Coppinger would support it too.
The Deputy is doing herself no favours by delaying this issue being brought to the Dáil. I would keep very quiet if I were her.
A democratic decision was taken at a meeting of 300 people. People were glad to hear that the meeting went well. Unfortunately, I received a late invitation and was not aware that it was taking place. At the meeting, people heard that there would be an increase in money in the budget for schools. What they did not hear was that there would definitely be an increase in the budget for St. Mochta’s school. Accordingly, they took a decision not to just accept the Minister's word but to bring their children to the Dáil tomorrow to protest, thereby losing a day's pay in the process. These people do not want to harm their children's education but they will repeat their action if needs be.
No decision has been taken about any budgetary funding. Decisions on budgets will not be taken until next Tuesday when they will be announced in the House. Everyone will have information at that time.
I had a good and constructive meeting with the representatives of the parents and the board, the patron and the principal of the school. The frustration that was apparent among those present was well reflected by the Deputies who attended and who supported the school in their efforts. The points were well made. There is a strong realisation in the Department of the priority relating to this school. We will do our best to facilitate the project. That is the position. I will continue to work to deliver.
