I extend a warm welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, as this is my first opportunity as Acting Chairman to do so. I wish him every success in his Ministry.
Adjournment Matters.
Physical Education Facilities.
Acting Chairman
I thank the Acting Chairman.
I wish to share my time with Senator Finucane.
Acting Chairman
That is agreed.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, to the House and wish him well in his new portfolio.
I raise the matter of the lack of playground facilities at St. James's national school, Cappagh, Askeaton. I acknowledge the tremendous work carried out in this school in Cappagh as part of the capital programme. A total of €457,000 was provided for classroom extensions together with a local contribution of €53,000, bringing the investment in the school up to more than €500,000.
I and my fellow politicians from west Limerick visited the school and met Mr. Cyril Madigan and five teachers. As a result of the development that has taken place, a very small amount of money is available towards the provision of playground facilities, the lack of which is a serious problem. I understand an appeal was submitted for such funding. The school was not allocated funding under category nine of the summer works programme.
I ask the Minister of State to ensure that the necessary finance is made available to provide playground facilities, which are important and should have been covered under the capital programme. I ask him to keep the line of communications open. The builder is still on site and will be there for some weeks. It would be beneficial if the Department could provide the necessary finance for the these playground facilities, which are necessary as part of the today's school curriculum.
I thank Senator Brennan for sharing his time with me. I, like the Senator, attended the protest parade outside this school in Cappagh last Monday morning. It was sad to see primary school children and their parents walking up and down protesting outside the school because the Department of Education and Science did not grant the school funding under the summer works scheme for the provision of a playground. It is a matter of concern that the children are in the dismal position of not having a playground, especially when there is much talk today about the problem of obesity in children. It was a retrograde step for the Department not to grant aid this project, given that the parents in this small rural community raised more than €50,000 towards the cost of the school extension, which they very much welcomed.
We discussed the Appropriations Bill yesterday and I noted that a total €90 million was handed back from three Departments, namely, the Office of Public Works, Transport and Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to be used as extra funding in 2007 on the basis that it was not spent in 2006. I cannot understand why it is not possible to fund a project of this kind under the summer works scheme.
The school submitted an appeal and I understand from the appeals section of the Department that it has not decided on the date it will discuss projects of this kind. This is a worthwhile project that deserves assistance. I hope the Minister of State has good news for us.
I thank Senator Brennan for raising this matter and Senator Finucane for his contribution. It affords me the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and the position of the Department of Education and Science regarding the provision of a replacement playground at St. James's School in Cappagh, County Limerick.
Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task, given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area and the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, since taking office, the Government has shown a focused determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. Under the National Development Plan 2007 to 2013, funding of €4.5 billion will be invested in a modernisation and development programme for first and second level schools. This unprecedented level of investment will allow us to meet the needs of a growing school population, to modernise existing school facilities and to provide for curriculum reform and innovation.
A total of 7,800 individual school building projects were delivered for the €2.6 billion investment under the 2000-06 period of the last national development plan. The completion of building projects under the €4.5 billion investment in the new plan will benefit from recent innovations in delivery mechanisms that have allowed for fast tracking of priority school developments. Activity under the new plan is already under way, with 1,500 school building projects due to be delivered in 2007.
St. James's School in Cappagh is a co-educational primary school with a September 2006 enrolment of 103 pupils. Enrolments at this school have been relatively stable, with a slight increase in recent years from 86 pupils in 2002 to 103 pupils in 2006. The school originally submitted an application to the Department of Education and Science for major capital investment in its existing buildings. Having considered the school's accommodation needs, the school authorities were offered and accepted funding under the small schools initiative in 2005 to provide accommodation suitable to that of a four-teacher school. This building project is currently under construction.
Earlier this year, the Department of Education and Science announced over 1,100 modernisation projects to improve facilities at schools under the 2007 summer works scheme. The school authority made an application for the provision of a hard-court play area under the scheme. Under the published prioritisation criteria governing this scheme, external environment projects such as the provision of hard play areas fall into category ten. This category was not reached this year. The management authority of the school has appealed the decision and this is currently under consideration in the Department.
I thank the Senator once again for raising this matter and allowing me to outline the progress being made under the school building and modernisation programme and the position regarding the application for the provision of a replacement playground at St. James's School in Cappagh, County Limerick.
I thank the Minister of State for the information given. If the Department had carried out the works under the scheme, it would have saved a lot of money. The amount needed to complete the playground area is less than €50,000. I ask the Minister of State to convey to the Minister that the lines of communication must be kept open, so that we can resolve this problem in the near future.
While I am aware that the appeals committee will meet to discuss this project and others, can the Minister of State get back to us with the date of that meeting?
I will convey the views of the Senators to the Minister and we will keep in touch with them.
Schools Building Projects.
I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue and I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is my first request to him and I hope he can give me an update on the position of Cahergal National School, near Tuam in County Galway. The board of management, the parents' committee, the teachers and the students of this school have been trying for many years to get a site for a new school. A site has now been purchased and is to be transferred to the Department of Education and Science. Can the Minister of State tell me when this can be done? It is important to get the site transferred so that we can work on the design and planning for a new school.
Cahergal National School has had an increased enrolment over the past few years. It is the only school in the north-east Galway area that has not had some improvements. Numerous schools did not receive any improvement during the last general election campaign, but thanks to the pilot version of the devolved grant scheme, many of those schools have since been improved and are in very good condition. However, Cahergal National School has been sorely neglected because they could not get a site. To compound matters, there was a fire in the school recently that caused further difficulties for the students and teachers. It is a health and safety hazard to allow the school continue in the current building following that fire.
I hope the Minister of State can provide an update on the progress of the school. A new site has been purchased, so the big issue is to transfer the site to the Department of Education and Science and start work on designing a new primary school in Cahergal.
I thank the Senator for raising this matter, as it affords me the opportunity to outline the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and to outline the position of the Department of Education and Science on the development of education provision in Cahergal National School in Tuam.
Modernising facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post primary schools is not an easy task, given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area and the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, this Government has shown a focused determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. As evidence of this commitment, over €540 million will be spent in the coming year on building and modernisation projects in primary and post-primary schools. Since 1997, a total of €3 billion has been invested in school buildings and this has delivered over 7,800 school building projects. This further investment of over €540 million will build on these achievements and will focus on the provision of school accommodation in areas where the population is growing at a rapid rate. As further evidence of our commitment, national development plan funding of €4.5 billion will be invested in schools over the coming years. This record level of investment is a positive testament to the priority the Government attaches to ensuring that school accommodation is of the highest standard possible.
In order to reduce red tape and allow projects to move faster, responsibility for smaller projects has been devolved to school level. Standard designs have also been developed for eight and 16 classroom schools to facilitate speedier delivery of projects and save on design fees. The design and build method is also used to expedite delivery where the use of standard designs is not possible. Taken together with the unprecedented level of funding available, these initiatives ensure that building projects are delivered in the fastest timeframe possible.
Cahergal National School in Tuam is a co-educational primary school. Enrolments at the school have decreased slightly from 106 in 2002 to 94 in 2006. Officials in the Department of Education and Science have completed their assessment of projected enrolments and have determined that the long-term projected staffing for Cahergal National School will be for a principal and five mainstream teachers. This has been notified to the school authorities. Furthermore, a decision was taken to provide a new six classroom school as a replacement school. The acquisition of the site adjoining the school has concluded and the transfer of the existing site to the Minister for Education and Science is ongoing. The school building project will be considered for development in the context of the school building and modernisation programme.
I thank the Senator once again for raising the matter and allowing me to outline the progress being made under the school building and modernisation programme and the position of Cahergal National School.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Can he inform me when the transfer of the existing site from Cahergal National School to the Department will be completed? That is vital to the development of the school.
The transfer is ongoing, but I will undertake to get the information and inform the Senator.
The Seanad adjourned at 8.50 p.m. until10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 15 February 2007.