Olivia Mitchell
Ceist:50 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress he has made to date in disposing of hazardous chemicals in second level schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16198/00]
Written Answers. - Waste Disposal.
In October 1996, my Department published a manual Safety in School Science: A Code of Practice and issued it to all schools. It contains general guidelines for best practice in school science, including a section on laboratory organisation and management which deals with matters such as storage, stock control and waste disposal.
At the same time, my Department published a manual that it commissioned from Forbairt entitled Safety in the School Laboratory: Disposal of Chemicals. This manual gives clear guidelines on the disposal of individual chemicals that are commonly found in school science laboratories. The manual explains how most of these chemicals may be safely disposed of in schools in accordance with the instructions given. My Department also contracted Forbairt to operate a help-line to further assist schools at that time.
To assess the range and volume of chemicals, a questionnaire was issued to all second level schools in October 1996. They were asked to identify and report on the amount of certain chemicals which are no longer required for school purposes and which could not be disposed of by the school in accordance with the guidelines given. The completed returns were collated and analysed by the curriculum development unit – CDU – of City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee. A report by CDU of this analysis was issued to all schools in February 1998.
Having regard to the results of the survey, my Department in conjunction with CDU and the Health and Safety Authority arranged for a training programme to provide further assistance and advice for all second level schools on disposal and storage issues. The programme was conducted in April and June 1998 for science teachers from all second level schools. It was intended that this training programme would enable schools to review further their chemical stocks, to arrange for the safe storage of chemicals which will be required for future use and to arrange for the disposal of unwanted chemicals which can be disposed of safely by schools in accordance with the guidelines already given.
Although it remains the direct responsibility of school authorities to manage their stocks of chemicals and ensure the safety of students, staff and property, my Department has recognised that a co-ordinated strategy is required to deal with the problem of unwanted chemicals that cannot be disposed of within schools.
During 1999 my Department carried out a pilot exercise with 19 community and comprehensive schools in the Dublin area to engage disposal contractors to identify and remove unwanted chemicals. Based on the results of the pilot study my Department is putting in place a comprehensive strategy to deal with the chemicals in question in the remaining schools.
As part of this strategy my Department will advertise shortly for companies interested in tendering for the contract to remove the unwanted chemicals from the remaining schools. In addition, my Department has written recently to all post-primary schools asking them to confirm that they wish the Department to make arrangements for the disposal of their unwanted chemicals and to forward updated details of relevant unwanted chemicals to the curriculum development unit – CDU – of the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee which will administer the scheme.