Vol. 374 No. 9
asked the Minister for Education the decision, if any, which has been made with regard to the building of the new primary school at Whitechurch, Dublin 14, following the completion of a review of the primary school building programme; whether sanction will be given to the school's committee to enable the new school to be built; and if so, when it will be forthcoming.
49.
asked the Minister for Education if, in the light of the dangerous and unsanitary conditions of the Whitechurch parish national school in Dublin 14 she will give an immediate commitment to approve the expenditure needed to build the promised new school.
52.
asked the Minister for Education when she will authorise the commencement of work on the new Whitechurch national school in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.
I propose to deal with Questions Nos. 6, 49 and 52 together.
There is a proposal to replace the national school building at Whitechurch, County Dublin, with a new building of traditional construction. Tenders had been invited for the project by school authorities and recommendations submitted to my Department. However, because of prior commitments and the pressure which these commitments placed on the capital resources available to my Department, it was not possible at the appropriate time to authorise the placing of a contract.
Whitechurch is one of several national schools whose accommodation problems are particularly acute. These projects have been held up at the stage where in less difficult times the authorities might have entertained reasonable hopes of having by now had their contracts placed. These authorities have in each case made representations to me regarding their difficulties and I have indicated that I am prepared to respond with short term relief in the way of grants for refurbishing existing accommodation or providing prefabricated classrooms as appropriate. I have also indicated that I would sympathetically respond to those schools' own initiatives for a solution to their difficulties provided their proposals are reasonable and can be achieved at modest cost. Discussions with the authorities of Whitechurch national school are proceeding and I am hopeful of a satisfactory outcome in due course.
In the circumstances outlined I am not in a position at this stage to give the decision, commitment or authorisation which the Deputies seek.
First, is the Minister aware that this school was built in 1923, that it was built with capacity for 60 children but that there are 140 children currently in the school and that the building in which the school is operating is not amenable to temporary works? Is he aware that the building has been condemned as totally unsuitable by senior medical officers of the Eastern Health Board and that some of the pupils in the school are now housed in an old stable building which also is totally unsuitable for use as a school building and which cannot be structurally improved to facilitate the provision of proper primary school education for Church of Ireland children? Could the Minister indicate, with specific reference to this school, what steps he intends taking to provide adequate school facilities?
I hesitate to interrupt the Deputy but his question is becoming very long.
Is there money available in the allocation for 1988 to enable this school to be built, bearing in mind that the local community have already raised £120,000 towards the school building fund?
I am, indeed, aware of all the points the Deputy has made and agree that the accommodation is far from satisfactory. However, the situation is that I am still operating in the current year under the Esitmates which I inherited from the previous Government.
What about the 1988 Estimates?
The Deputy will be aware that we are still in 1987.
Is there a capital allocation for the building of this school?
Deputy Shatter asked a question. Let him listen to the reply.
The Deputy is aware that the previous Government before they left office authorised a number of projects to proceed in January and this project was not one of them. The problems are acute. The accommodation is far less than satisfactory. I shall not be in a position to provide any capital for new school buildings in 1988. We shall be in a position to carry out improvements and the nature of those improvements is the subject of discussion at present with the school authorities. Improvements need not necessarily mean improvements to the existing accommodation. I assure the Deputy that this project has a very high priority in my Department. I am satisfied there will be a satisfactory outcome to the discussions taking place at present between the Whitechurch school authorities and my Department.
While appreciating the many demands on the Minister, I, too, would like to make sure he is aware that these pupils are being taught in a stable condemned by the Eastern Health Board. In view of the special circumstances, will he take a personal interest in this project? In the event of the discussions with the authorities progressing, when does the Minister see a building on site, as all the local Deputies are very anxious to have a building on site in the very near future? It is a very special situation when children are being taught in an old stable and I wish to add my personal support in this.
I have taken a personal interest in this and have spoken to the various Deputies on the subject. It is impossible for me to say at this stage when a building will be on site. I want to reiterate that from the very small resources at our disposal we are anxious to bring about a solution to the problem in this particular school.
Will the Minister not accept that in this case it is a waste of funds to suggest that improvements be carried out? What improvements does the Minister propose and what will be the cost of those improvements? Will he further indicate if it is now the policy of his Department to scrap the building of this school? In particular, having regard to the fact that this school provides for a minority Church of Ireland population, what improvements does the Minister intend to have carried out by way of emergency to provide better facilities for children for whom there are no alternative facilities in the whole of south Dublin?
Deputy Shatter, I again must intervene to indicate that your questions are exceptionally long and in omnibus form.
Perhaps I could have an answer to the questions?
It is not the intention of the Department to scrap the construction of this school. What we are attempting to do is to see if we can reduce the cost factor of the project and if we can perhaps make alternative arrangements with regard to the construction of the project with the school authorities.
What alternatives?
These are the subject of discussion.
Arising out of the Minister's last reply, is he aware that the school intended to be built, and for which tenders went out recently and the time limit ran out, was a four-teacher school and that the school as it exists has more teachers and is an expanding school? The question of reducing the costs of building such a school simply does not arise. I have not been able to ask a supplementary question with regard to my own question and would like to ask what the Minister is referring to when he speaks about the school's own initiative and about supporting their own initiative. Their initiative has been to raise £120,000 plus towards the building of this school.
This is tending to become a debate.
The policy of this Government since taking office has been to try to reduce as far as possible the cost of projects. It is agreed all round that the cost of constructing schools had gone completely out of order and it was simply costing too much to provide school buildings. On coming into office we carried out a survey as a result of which we found that at the rate of progress for the past two years it would have taken nine years to complete building in the case of sub-standard schools.
We decided, therefore, it was necessary to look at construction costs and the type of design in order to see if we could bring about a reduction in costs. We are now doing that and I am satisfied, as a result of the arrangements which are now being made with communities, that we can reduce costs considerably. I am glad to say that there has been progress in our discussions with the school authorities in this regard. As those discussions are still in progress I do not wish to give any further details at this point in time.
Question No. 7, please.
A Cheann Comhairle——
Please, Deputy, I have allowed a lot of latitude on this question.
It is not a supplementary question.
What is it then?
Deputy Noonan asked me to inform you in referring to Question No. 7 that unfortunately, the question as submitted is different from the question which appears. It is a very simple correction but before the Minister answers it I think it is important that she should know what the question was. I have the typescript in front of me.
A Cheann Comhairle, on a point of order, we are dealing with the Order Paper in front of us.
I did not write the Order Paper.
I have had no prior knowledge whatsoever of this information.
When the Minister answers I will explain what the question was.
A Cheann Comhairle, may I put one final supplementary?
I will facilitate the Deputy.
Will the Minister give a commitment that in the discussions which he is having with the school authorities regarding a reduction in costs he will also take into account the fact that there are now more pupils in the school than there were when the school was approved at the beginning? We do not want a situation similar to this in the future.
I am satisfied that the arrangements we are attempting to make with the school authorities will be satisfactory and that adequate accommodation will be supplied as a result.
