Vol. 577 No. 3
45 Ms Harkin asked the Minister for Education and Science the action he is taking to deal with the unacceptable conditions at the Ursuline College, Sligo and Mohill national schools, County Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31308/03]
The proposed large-scale building project to provide additional accommodation to successfully amalgamate two national schools in Mohill, County Leitrim, is listed in section 7 of the 2003 school building programme which is published on my Department's website at www.education.ie This proposed project is at stage 1/2/3 of architectural planning – developed sketch scheme. It has been assigned a band 1 rating by my Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects.
The proposed large-scale building project for Ursuline College, Sligo, is listed in section 6 of the 2003 school building programme. This proposed project is at stage 5 of architectural planning – tender documentation. It has been assigned a band 2 rating by my Department in accordance with the published criteria for prioritising large-scale projects.
I will publish details of the 2004 school building programme this week. The programme will clarify what progress is planned during 2004 for projects such as Mohill and Ursuline College.
I thank the Minister for his answer, which was similar to a reply I received to a parliamentary question a week or two ago. He describes the current position in a general way without providing any specific information. Is he aware that negotiations for a full-scale extension to the Hibernia College started more than 20 years ago and that many of its classrooms were built before 1900? In light of this, why is the college still on a band 2 rating, which is deemed to be essential but not absolutely essential? Will he give parents, students and teachers a realistic timeframe for the school to proceed to tender and construction? Section 6, in which it is placed, contains 54 other schools, of which 37 have a band 2 rating.
The Minister indicated that the proposal for Mohill national schools is in section 7, band 1, the same section and band rating as 33 other schools. Will he give a realistic timeframe for the construction of these schools?
When I publish the 2004 schools building programme, the Deputy and others will have a clearer picture of the position of schools and their future status. Mohill national school has been given band 1 status because it is an amalgamation. As I stated, the project is still in the early stages – one, two and three – and many other schools are ahead of it. Amalgamation and rationalisation proposals are guaranteed to proceed through the programme without undue delay and will not be stopped at various stages, whereas schools which are not amalgamating or rationalising go through various stages. Last year, we had to decide that none of the schools would proceed to the next stage. I assure the Deputy that because the school in question is an amalgamation, it will pass through the other stages relatively quickly towards tender, after which its progress will depend on cost.
As regards bands 1 and 2, where amalgamation or rationalisation are involved, the schools in question are given band 1 status, in other words absolute priority. The reason for this is that from the point of view of the Department amalgamation of two or three schools is good for children and the educational system in general.
The other category of band 1 school consists of those one would describe as an absolute disaster, which could mean, for example, a roof has blown off or similar serious circumstances have arisen. While not as bad as band 1, band 2 is serious and a high priority rating. I anticipate in general terms that both schools will make substantial progress in the next couple of years.
Taking into account the figure in the Estimates and the additional €30 million allocated in the budget, the overall allocation for the programme is slightly more than €6 million above the figure in the 2003 Estimates. In light of the Minister's comment that schools with a band 1 rating are an "absolute disaster", does he agree that the increase of just €6 million compared to the 2003 Estimate is inadequate to deal with the large number of primary and post-primary schools in band 1 and on the waiting list?
I am not sure how the Deputy arrived at a figure of €6 million. The increase in funding this year for primary and post-primary schools is 12%, while the figure for second level schools is exactly the same as last year. The funding available under the schools building programme for primary schools in the coming year is €190 million, almost €23 million more than this year. The basic difference between this year is that I had little or no discretionary funding for the schools building programme last year when funding for new primary schools was in the region of €12 million. Apart from the increase of €23 million for this purpose, I have received a further increase of €50 million to €60 million. I have, therefore, approximately €80 million to fund new starts this year, not the €6 million the Deputy cited, which is a substantial difference. The problem last year arose largely due to an overhang, which we do not have this year.
