I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock.
Commencement Matters
Schools Building Projects Status
I, too, welcome the Minister of State. Holy Family special school in Cootehill is very much still in limbo with regard to funding for the provision of new school accommodation. I seem to have received the same reply every time I have raised this issue since I became a Member of the House. There does not seem to be any commitment to make financial provision for this project. This year alone I raised this matter on the Commencement on 11 and 25 June. I wrote a letter to the Minister in July and received a response dated 8 July. The stock answer from the Department seems to be that priority is afforded to where population growth has been identified and the education system faces a demographic challenge.
Holy Family special school in Cootehill caters for students with severe and profound learning disabilities, moderate and multiple learning disabilities and autism. This September the student population increased once again. The school's figures have continued to rise in recent years and it has already had to move the goalposts repeatedly to cater for the demand for places every year. What needs to happen in order that this project can finally get funding? What is the definition of demographic need or population growth?
The parents do not have the luxury of picking and choosing where to send their children. The catchment area for the school is beyond a parish or town and even beyond the county. It serves a number of counties and parents must send their children there to receive the high standard of education and care which the teachers and staff provide. This is a particular demographic with a very real and pressing need. The growth in demand for places every year is very real. The need for wheelchairs and other specialised equipment in use in the school must be considered. Current space is used to its maximum capacity and it is unfair on those children to be taught in this environment.
The teachers, staff and parents are doing their best, but it is time for the Department to intervene in a very real way. This week the Government announced capital funding for education. Speaking on the budget in the Seanad yesterday, the Minister of the Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, mentioned health, education and social protection and stated, "Our commitment to our citizens in these areas requires that we consider these trends into the future and make plans accordingly." He later spoke about "our prioritisation of special education needs." It is very clear the Government needs to put its money where its mouth is and use the capital funding allocated for education to provide new accommodation for this school and its students. There is a need, as well as a trend and, according to the Government, a need for prioritisation. I respectfully ask that funding be put in place once and for all or that we have clarity as to when funding may be made available. It is not included in the five-year construction plan, but we now have this capital funding, together with the emphasis on special educational needs and trends and demographic growth. The school will not be able to cope much longer if more students keep coming. It needs new accommodation as soon as possible.
I am taking the debate on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I thank the Senator for raising the issue as it provides us with the opportunity to clarify the current position on the major capital project for Holy Family special school, Cootehill, County Cavan.
The Senator will be aware of the demographic challenge facing the education system in the coming years. Primary enrolments which have already risen substantially in recent years are projected to rise by almost 25,000 pupils by 2017 and will continue to rise to a peak of over 574,000 in 2018. In order to meet the needs of our growing population of schoolgoing children, the Department must establish new schools, as well as extending or replacing existing schools, in areas where the most significant demographic growth has been identified. The delivery of these new schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, remains the main focus of the Department's budget for the coming years.
Holy Family special school, Cootehill, is a multi-denominational special needs school catering for pupils aged four to 18 years with moderate learning disabilities, severe or profound learning disabilities and pupils with autism. Enrolments at the school for the school year 2015-16 are 155 pupils, representing an increase of 24% in the past five years.
The brief for the project for Holy Family special school, Cootehill, is to provide a new 21-classroom special school and appropriate ancillary accommodation. Planning permission, fire safety certification and disability access certification have already been obtained for the project on the basis of the original brief for a 21-classroom school. In order to complete design stages of the project it was necessary, earlier this year, to appoint a replacement mechanical and electrical engineer to the design team. However, a recent request to increase the brief to provide for an additional five permanent classrooms has been submitted by the board of management. A more detailed report on this proposed increase to the brief has been requested by the Department and, on receipt, this proposal will be considered in the context of the potential impact on the progress of the current project. While the Department is positively disposed towards the increase, the additional five classrooms will, if approved, require an additional planning application and this will need to be further discussed with the school.
Thereafter, subject to no further issues arising, the project will progress to the conclusion of stage 2b, detailed design, with the completion of tender documents. Owing to competing demands on the Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements, it was not possible to include this project in the five-year construction programme announced in 2012, as the Senator acknowledged in her submission. However, school building projects, including Holy Family special school project, which have been initiated but not included in the 2012 five-year construction programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to the Department in the future.
I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement matter. In the response it was mentioned that there had been a 24% increase in the past five years. This would meet the criteria in trying to deal with significant demographic growth. I mentioned in my contribution that because demand kept rising, the school had to keep changing the goalposts. It was mentioned that a brief to provide for an additional five permanent classrooms had been submitted by the board of management. The school has been waiting so long for the new building that it has had to keep making changes because there is so much demand. Will the Minister of State press upon the Minister for Education and Skills the need to have funding provided as soon as possible? I hope this will project be prioritised in the capital plan announced the other day.
I acknowledge the request and will speak to the Minister about the points the Senator has raised. It has been acknowledged that enrolments have increased by 24% in the past five years, which has necessitated an additional request for accommodation. It is fair to acknowledge that the Department is in contact with the board of management and I will raise the matter in person with the Minister.
Schools Site Acquisitions
I think Deputy Sean Sherlock is a Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills.
No, I am a Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
That is a pity. The Minister of State was.
I was.
Apologies. I am raising an issue about a school. It is the second time the Cathaoirleach has allowed me to raise this issue about the purchase of a site for St. Peter's national school in Dunboyne. It is a pity I am here a year later because it is not just this year, it is over ten years at this stage.
St. Peter's national school is the first Church of Ireland denominational school established since the foundation of the State. It plays a very important role in an area of severe demographic pressure in Dunboyne. It caters for people from all over south Meath and students from west County Dublin. I spoke to Senator Sean D. Barrett, who is a member of that parish. He was unable to stay for the debate, but he is certainly aware of the issue and also putting on pressure. We really need to know what is happening. The parents are very frustrated. They are in very cramped accommodation on a very dangerous piece of road in the village, which is completely unsuitable.
There seem to be huge difficulties with the purchase of a site in terms of what sites in the area are zoned for educational use. If the Department cannot very quickly secure one of those sites, it will have to look somewhere else. What seems to be happening is that the small number of people who have educationally zoned sites are playing extreme hardball with the Department and it is about time the Department decided to put the interest of the students first, which I know is their interest, and find a suitable site for them somewhere, in conjunction with Meath County Council.
This matter is going on too long. The parents are in limbo. They do not know what is happening. They want their school and they are entitled to it. I do not get too many calls nowadays about schools because many schools were built by this and the previous Government, which we are happy to see. It is very unfair on this school, which is relatively small but which serves a very important demographic. They need their site and they need to be up and running and then left to do their own thing, which is teaching their children and bringing them up as good citizens of the country.
Again, I am taking the matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I acknowledge that this issue was raised by the Senator a year ago and the frustration of the school community which has high expectations of delivery.
On a point of order, can we receive a copy of the script?
I will continue to deliver it, if that is okay. The Senator might want to check it against delivery.
The school is currently located on a temporary basis on a site owned by the patron. In the context of increased constraints on the school's temporary site, the Department recognised the need for the acquisition of a suitable alternative site to provide a permanent location for the school. A potential site was identified and following on from a favourable assessment of the site's suitability, the Department opened negotiations with the landowner. Despite the best efforts of the Department and a significant investment of time in the negotiations, these ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Officials from the Department have since worked closely with officials from Meath County Council towards identifying an alternative permanent site to meet the needs of St. Peter's Church of Ireland national school. In general, the first step in a site acquisition process is the identification of a number of suitable sites by the relevant local authority. The identified sites are then technically assessed on a joint basis by officials from the local authority and from the Department. Subsequent to this, a valuation of the preferred site is procured and negotiations with the landowner are opened. Such negotiations may encompass the resolution of complex technical issues and in that context can, at times, be lengthy.
Once agreement in principle with the landowner has been reached, the legal conveyancing process commences. The Senator will appreciate that due diligence must apply in relation to any site acquisition and in that context the process can at times be protracted if complex issues emerge. In this instance, a number of site options were identified by Meath County Council.
These were comprehensively assessed and the preferred site option in terms of technical feasibility and suitability for development has been identified. Departmental officials are in regular contact with officials in Meath County Council and the acquisition of this preferred option is being actively progressed. The Minister appreciates that the process has taken some time but assures the Senator and those concerned that officials are working to acquire a suitable site as soon as possible for the benefit the school community.
Given the commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally, the Minister is not in a position to comment further. However, the acquisition of a new site for the school is a priority for the Department and the patron body will be informed of the location for the school as soon as possible. The Minister thanks the Senator for raising the matter and giving her the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the current position on the acquisition of a site for St. Peter's Church of Ireland national school in Dunboyne.
It reminds me of the schools issue that brought me into politics, namely, the Laytown schools crisis in 2006, when there was no site and almost 1,000 pupils were affected. The Department bought the site and did the deal, even though landowners were playing serious hardball and causing immense difficulties. While I do not know what is happening with the discussions, they are taking an inordinate length of time. It appears, from the word on the ground, that the sites the council has identified are unavailable. If this is the case, let us look elsewhere for a proper, suitable site for the school. The Minister of State's response brings us no further forward.
Neither I nor anybody from the school community nor any political representative wants to get involved in the commercial negotiations. They are not a matter for us. However, we must give some expectation to parents that it will be brought to a conclusion. If it is to be a negative conclusion regarding the sites the council has identified, let the Department reach that conclusion and at least let us know and then find a different site. What has been happening so far is not working. The Minister must be made aware of it. It is the first Church of Ireland school to open since the foundation of the State and it should be, and is, a source of pride for the school community and the whole community of south Meath and west Dublin. The school needs its place, and it is unfair that it has been left until last, which is my reading of the situation as I look at schools throughout County Meath.
While the Senator has not said anything unreasonable, to be fair, the Department is in discussions with Meath County Council and recognises the need to acquire a suitable alternative site. A process is under way. The Senator has stated the potential alternative sites may not be available.
That is what we hear on the ground.
The process under way for the acquisition of sites which involves the Department liaising with the relevant local authority is a process that has delivered sites and new builds and we must have some confidence in it. The Senator's point about the inordinate length of time it is taking is well made and I will convey it to the Minister.
Sitting suspended at 10.55 a.m. and resumed at 11.30 a.m.