Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 November 2018
45. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Education and Skills the interim arrangements that will be put in place for a school (details supplied) that must vacate its temporary premises in April 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49216/18]
View answer77. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Education and Skills the long-term plans in place for providing permanent accommodation for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49217/18]
View answerWhat short-term and long-term arrangements are in place to accommodate the needs of North Wicklow Educate Together school, which is facing an impending crisis due to the fact that the current lease on its temporary accommodation on Putland Road, Bray expires at the end of April next year? Some 180 pupils will find themselves with no school, and 60 of them are due to sit their junior certificate examinations shortly after the lease expires. There are short-term and long-term needs for accommodation. The school is on the schools capital expenditure programme and is due a new building.
We have had a number of conversations about this issue. I apologise to the students for being unable to meet with them last week; I was at an event at the Aviva Stadium. I thank them for their correspondence.
A major capital project for the provision of permanent accommodation for the school referred to by the Deputy to cater for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils is being addressed through my Department's capital programme.
My Department has been liaising with Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, KWETB, with a view to providing the new 1,000 pupil school on the site of Bray Institute of Further Education, BIFE, in a campus-type arrangement. The site in question is almost 12 acres. It was envisaged that the master planning of the site would also provide an opportunity to put plans in place to provide modern fit-for-purpose accommodation for BIFE through a multi-million euro investment. Unfortunately, my Department understands that the board of the ETB does not agree with this approach.
My Department will have to consider this development and the next steps to address the long-term accommodation needs of the school. This will be done as a matter of priority given the urgent need to find a permanent home for the school.
With regard with the school's interim accommodation, the lease on the school's temporary accommodation on Putland Road is due to expire on 30 April 2019 and the property is up for sale. My Department’s preferred option for interim accommodation is for the school to remain in this location. Accordingly, my Department has indicated to the owner of the property that it would be interested in exploring the potential to licence or lease the property from the purchaser should the purchaser be amenable to such an arrangement.
My Department is also exploring other options should it not be possible for the school to remain in the Putland Road property. In this context, it is engaging with the patron body of the school and KWETB regarding all other short-term accommodation solutions. My Department is meeting with the patron and school management tomorrow regarding the accommodation issues.
It is unbelievable that the Government has allowed the Department to sleepwalk into the pending crisis. I have been asking questions about this for the past two years, particularly regarding the concerns relating to the BIFE site. I pointed out that there were issues with the identification of that site by the ex-CEO, Mr. Sean Nash, and with the engagement with the Department, which I believe should be investigated. It is only now that the Department has acknowledged that there is a difficulty. The KWETB board met yesterday and made a unanimous decision not to proceed with co-location on the BIFE site. This was all flagged. There is now a crisis.
Patronage was awarded to the North Wicklow Educate Together school in 2013 and it moved into its temporary accommodation in 2016. I do not take any comfort from what the Minister has said; he is dealing in hopes and aspirations. There has been a suggestion that the school could temporarily relocate to the old Colaiste Raíthín premises in Bray. If the Minister and the KWETB are looking at that as an option, they should know that it is not fit for purpose. It was not fit for purpose for Colaiste Raíthín, which, after a lengthy campaign, moved into its new accommodation recently. It will not be suitable for North Wicklow Educate Together in the short or long term.
The simple solution to this is for the Department to purchase the Putland Road site. Is that being considered by the Minister and his officials?
The Deputy is entitled to double the time because the questions have been grouped, but with a little bit of co-operation, Deputy Pringle might be able to ask his question.
This is an important ongoing issue. I spoke to my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, about it yesterday. Looking at it in a common sense, value for money way, the BIFE site is 12 acres and owned by the State. It will not cost money to acquire, and, therefore, it is an option. There is also a constraint on the Putland Road site because there is a protected structure on it. It is a smaller site of some 4.3 acres. We have to ask whether the school can do what it wants to do on a 4.3 acre site. The Deputy believes it can. We need local engagement now more than ever. I have spoken to the Minister for Health, about this matter, and Deputy Brady has raised this on a number of occasions with me. A meeting of minds is required at tomorrow's meeting. The formal decision by the board of the ETB to reject the BIFE site as a preferred location was only taken earlier this week. We have to take that on board. From a taxpayer's point of view, it must be acknowledged that the officials were considering a site that would not cost anything. The Putland Road site would cost money, and it is also zoned. I do not know what the valuation of the site is or what it might cost. Patronage was awarded in 2013 and the school was up and running in 2016. Education is the most important issue, and I will focus on that. We need certainty on what the next stage will be. Tomorrow's meeting will be crucial in that regard.
The Minister has mentioned cost-benefit for taxpayers. We are talking about taxpayers and pupils, learners who are going to be homeless. They will have nowhere to go at the end of April 2019. While the Minister is thinking of cost-benefit, I think of the benefit that will accrue for the pupils and their parents, as well as the teachers, and pupils who are due to enrol in that school next September. The school is due to increase to 300 pupils.
I do not take any comfort from what the Minister said. We need to move away from the BIFE site. The Department must immediately refocus and examine the Putland Road site. The school faces an immediate short-term crisis, because it will need temporary accommodation whatever happens. I mentioned the Colaiste Raíthín premises, which is not fit for purpose for a number of reasons. It is a split site and uses really old prefabricated classrooms and a VEC building; it is not fit for purpose and should be ruled out. That leaves the Putland Road site, where the school is currently based on a temporary basis. If the owner of that site is not open to extending the lease or to putting in place a licence, we must have a plan B, and I have not heard the Minister mention one. We need one, and I am hopeful that such an alternative plan will be outlined at the meeting with the patrons of the school and the principal tomorrow.
I am not getting any solid answers from the Minister, and I did not get any solid answers from his predecessor over the past two years. Immediate answers are required. Without them, 180 pupils will have no school at the end of April next year, and 60 of those will be sitting their junior certificate examinations in a hedge school. I am sure the Minister does not want that to happen on his watch, and I, as a Deputy for that constituency, certainly do not want it to happen on my watch. The Minister has spoken about other Ministers. He mentioned the Minister for Health. I remind him that he is the Minister for Education and Sills and that it is his sole responsibility.
No student sitting his or her leaving certificate examinations will be left out. Alternative temporary solutions are being worked on, and we have been focusing on this issue. The significant question is how to address the long-term issue here. The meeting tomorrow is a follow-up to consider the decision made by the ETB. There must be a meeting of minds, and there must be focus on the long term. The short-term issues will be dealt with. Certainty is also needed. There is no point in my saying that the school will be located at a certain site. That would do a disservice to the community and the process in place. It is good that the ETB has now made a decision. I understand the Deputy's frustration. This matter has been ongoing for a number of years. However, we need certainty, and I believe things will happen quite quickly after tomorrow's meeting.
