Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021
10. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education if it will be possible for school recreation facilities to be used for community purposes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35257/21]
View answerMy question is whether it will be possible to open schools as recreational facilities to be used for community purposes.
The policy of my Department is to support the use of school premises and facilities for community and recreational purposes where possible. In October 2017, following consultation with the relevant school authorities, my Department published guidelines on the use of school buildings outside of school hours. These guidelines can be viewed on my Department's website. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide guidance for schools relating to the use of school buildings outside of school hours and for those schools that are considering putting such arrangements in place.
Any decision to make school facilities available lies with the relevant trustees or property owners having regard to the requirements of the school, staff and students. Schools are often the centre of sustainable communities and there can be mutual benefits in building links with the local community. Many schools recognise this and play an important role in their wider communities and many schools make their facilities available outside of school hours for a variety of different uses at a variety of different times throughout the year.
During the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, a school in considering applications should carry out a risk assessment to ensure that any organisation intending to use the school's facilities can guarantee the school that all public health requirements will be adhered to. This is something of which we are particularly conscious as we journey through the Covid-19 pandemic.
I want to acknowledge that in the vast majority of schools there is a very strong alignment between local communities and local schools. I acknowledge that for many communities the school is at the heart and very centre of many community activities as they operate within a local community. That is something I would welcome. It is important that schools within communities continue to build, grow and nurture links.
I thank the Minister. I read the document on the guidance on the use of school buildings outside of school hours to which the Minister referred. It considers the issues surrounding insurance, risk assessments, health and safety, security and those types of situations. I am talking about opening schools for full community use. Nothing has the potential to bring people together more effectively than our schools. We know that communities benefit from strong schools and students benefit from strong communities. Schools do not simply provide a place to educate our children; they anchor students in their communities and provide additional amenities to communities and shared spaces for recreational activities. Communities where schools are appropriately sited and whose accessibility is enhanced can support good health, with children and users able to walk or cycle to school which encourages greater physical activity.
Like the Minister, I have spent a considerable period of my life in a classroom and school environment. I have worked in schools that have been lucky enough to have brand new state-of-the-art facilities on greenfield sites and in schools where they do their best within the confines of their four walls. We need a greater opening up of schools for communities.
I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the sincerity with which he has put forward his views. I want to confirm that the Department has no issue with schools making arrangements with local communities, provided that does not in any way impinge upon the needs of the school at any given time. Therefore, it is important that negotiations around that are at a local level and, as I have outlined, with the property owners, trustees or whatever the case might be.
To be fair, and to the credit of schools across the country, an extraordinarily high number of schools are willing to do that and have engaged positively and proactively with local communities to ensure there is a sharing of resources that might be in the ownership of the school. As I said, specific guidelines are available to schools which might wish to consider doing that in the future.
I understand the concerns school management may have regarding security, insurance, the risk of damage to property and all of those issues that are discussed in the document the Minister referenced. I am talking about schools with state-of-the-art AstroTurf pitches, swimming pools, tennis courts, sports halls, meeting rooms, libraries, gyms and so on. All of those amenities should be made available. The Department should open up schools. Many buildings are on public land and most are publicly funded. They should all be open and available for community use. I ask that the Minister and her Department devise a policy or scrutinise the possibility of opening up schools to the public and in all new builds, in particular, to be fully conscious and aware of the potential to have community accessibility built into our planning. People should have access to schools after hours for community meetings, avail of the books sitting on school library shelves, access IT equipment and use all of our sports facilities.
I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge that we are not too far apart in what he is saying. I want to acknowledge that the Department has no issue. As we previously outlined, it has made guidelines available as to how best practice would work in terms of ensuring how this would operate. As I said, I want to be clear because I do not want the impression to go abroad that this is not happening with school communities. I am aware of an enormous number of schools which are making their facilities available for a variety of different functions, gatherings, meetings or whatever initiatives might be required within a local community. I reiterate that is very positive. As the Deputy said, there are considerations from a school's point of view. Obviously, we would want to build and nurture links with communities. Many schools have already achieved that. We welcome other schools taking on board what needs to be taken on board so those that wish to create links can do so.
