I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. We know how busy he is and we thank him for his time. As Senator Lombard has been delayed, we will begin with Senator Gallagher.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Road Network
The Minister of State is very welcome. The issue of the underfunding of local and regional roads has been raised consistently by councillors in Cavan and Monaghan and in many other parts of the country. In County Monaghan we are quite unique in that we do not have any multinationals, but, fortunately, we have many people who have created their own employment through indigenous enterprises across sectors like agriculture, agrifood and engineering. It is a unique situation in that many of these small businesses are located up small boreens which, in turn, connect to regional roads and national roads. Our small and medium enterprises are particularly dependent on the road network to get their goods to and from the marketplace, so it is critical that we have a proper network to enable them to do that. These small enterprises typically employ between five and ten people and are absolutely crucial to the local economy in Monaghan. Monaghan and Cavan, like many other counties, have large proportions of their populations living in rural areas. Parents taking their children to school in the morning and people travelling to and from work are travelling on the same substandard roads as many of the aforementioned local enterprises.
I have no doubt that I will be told that we have received funding down through the years. I fully accept and appreciate that, but, unfortunately, the funding we have received, because of inflation among other things, is just not stretching as far as it needs to stretch. As the Minister of State knows, Cavan and Monaghan do not have rail access and are totally dependent on road infrastructure. To put things into perspective and to give the House facts as opposed to opinions, a recent national study of the local and regional road network found that County Monaghan has 300 km of regional roads, 11%, or 33 km, of which are in the poorest category and are showing signs of severe structural failure. Furthermore, of the 550 km of local primary roads in the county, 12%, or 66 km, are of the poorest standard while 25%, or 225 km, of the 1,020 km of tertiary roads are showing signs of severe structural failure.
In one particular municipal district, MD, namely, Carrickmacross-Castleblayney, and indeed Ballybay-Clones, more than 35% of the road network is in the poorest category, making it one of the worst MDs in the country for road infrastructure. These categories highlight the unique situation Monaghan finds itself in.
It is estimated that approximately €5.8 million in additional funding is required annually to the current restoration improvement budget, which was €7.6 million in 2023. This is simply to maintain the road network in its current condition. It is a false economy, as I am sure the Minister of State will agree. If we continue to let these roads decline, it will take more revenue down the road, so to speak - excuse the pun – to put these roads to the standard everyone requires.
In Monaghan, Cavan and many other rural counties, such as, I am sure, the Minister of State’s home patch of Westmeath, local roads are essential. It is the only show in town because we do not have rail or an adequate bus service. We are absolutely, totally dependent on the local road network. I plead with the Minister of State for a substantial increase to be given this year to local road funding in Cavan, Monaghan and other counties that require it because it is essential in order for people to travel about their daily business.
I thank Senator Gallagher for his Commencement matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Transport, who cannot be this morning because he is at Cabinet. I fully agree with the Senator's sentiments that local, national and primary roads are so important in terms of the infrastructure for local communities.
As the Senator is aware and as is outlined in the national development plan, the Government is strongly committed to protecting the existing regional and local road network. This network is fundamental to connecting people and places across the country. It facilitates businesses, education, tourism, healthcare, agriculture and the provision of critical services and activities. The network requires significant annual funding to ensure it remains fit for purpose, safe and resilient to the impacts of climate change. As such, €626 million was allocated to regional and local roads in 2023, with approximately 90% of this funding being directed towards maintenance and renewal works.
The regional and local road grants support local authorities in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities under the Roads Act 1993 to improve and maintain their regional and local roads. The grants are provided to supplement local authorities' own resources, with each local authority responsible for selecting and prioritising road works within their region and for managing their own budgets. In this regard, in 2023, Cavan County Council received more than €18.1 million of State grant assistance while Monaghan County Council received just under €17.4 million. The allocation of grant funding is made on as fair and as equitable a basis as possible.
There are three main regional and local road grant programmes that account for most of the grant funding available to local authorities: first, a restoration maintenance grant which targets investments into pavement sealing works to protect the road surface from water damage; second, a restoration improvement grant which supports road strengthening works to lengthen the life of the road; and third, a discretionary grant which allows for a range of activities, including pothole repairs, edge strengthening, renewal of signs and lines, and winter maintenance. Funding for these grant types is allocated based on the length of the road network within a local authority's area of responsibility with some account taken of traffic. It is envisaged that grants will continue to be made available on this basis because it is the most equitable approach.
An array of other grants are also available to local authorities aimed at maintaining and renewing key elements of the overall regional and local road network, including safety and bridge programmes, drainage works, climate adaptation measures, community involvement projects and the maintenance of former national roads. Furthermore, there is a limited budget of €70 million in 2023 for investment in new roads or new improvement schemes. The Minister of Transport appreciates that, within the overall parameters set for the grant programmes, local authorities might need to target funding at particular problem areas. There is sufficient flexibility in the structure of the grant programme to allow for this. As Senator Gallagher will be familiar, each local authority must allocate its own resources to priority areas as needed.
To assist local authorities in managing their own road network, the Department has supported the development of a road asset management system called MapRoad.
MapRoad allows local authorities to catalogue the road pavement condition of each road in their region. This information can then be used to prioritise, schedule, and manage maintenance and renewal works. In summary, Exchequer funding for regional and local roads is intended to supplement realistic contributions from local authorities’ own resources. As the statutory road authorities for their areas, each local authority must prioritise investment towards regional and local roads as needed. The Department of Transport has provided MapRoad to assist in this process.
I thank the Minister of State for his response and I appreciate that he is reading a response he received from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Unfortunately, the content of it does not inspire me or offer me much hope with regard to roads funding. I ask respectfully that the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, bring a message back to him on behalf of the people of Monaghan and Cavan and indeed many other parts of rural Ireland. It is that the local road network is the only show in town we have to get from A to B. Up to this point the funding we were getting, although welcome, was not adequate to address the serious issues we have. Now the fact is that we have a survey that is nationally recognised and that shows of the 1,020 km of local tertiary roads 25% of them show severe structural failure. That is 255 km, and in the Castleblayney-Carrickmacross municipal district, MD, 35% of that total is in a category that is classified as being one of the worst in the country.
Regarding funding to the local authorities, if they are given the funding they will spend it. They need to get it, first of all, in order to be in a position to spend it. I respectfully request the Minister of State take a message back to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan that we need more funding and we respectfully request more funding because it is so badly needed. I thank the Minister of State.
I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this Commencement matter and I will take his message back firmly to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I will point out that in 2023 an additional €22.5 million was allocated for issues related to inflationary costs and damage to regional and local roads. That is to point out that those roads take 55% of our traffic nationally which is a very significant portion. In that region, Cavan received €687,500 and Monaghan received €580,000. I do firmly take the Senator's point about investment in roads. I know, being from a large rural constituency, how important that is to me in terms of ensuring communities have the best and safest possible roads. One of our big challenges is the N4 network that we are trying to bring to motorway status right down to the west which is a major artery. We are working hard with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to deliver this. As a Government we really need to prioritise this and ensure there is investment in our roads to make them safe and to reduce accidents on them.
I thank the Minister of State and I thank Senator Gallagher. This is a very important Commencement matter. Coming from a large rural county myself I fully understand the challenges. It is extremely important we maintain our roads because if we do not continually invest in our roads they will just disintegrate and become a much bigger problem going forward. It is important that the investment at least keeps up with inflation and it really should be much better because we are catching up after the years of recession when there was very little scope within the roads budget.
School Enrolments
I thank the House for changing this Commencement debate around. It is hard to believe it takes five hours to travel here from my part of the world to this House. I raise the issue of school places in Clonakilty. I raised this issue with the Minister of State nearly 12 months ago. The population in Clonakilty has grown quite significantly since 2016. The census shows an 11.3% increase in the population. We need to see major investment in school places. I speak mainly about what is happening at Clonakilty Community College. The community college is basically at full capacity. We are looking at a scenario where the number of children going to the college is more than 660 and in the Sacred Heart Secondary School there are another 544 places. The issue here is that 156 people looked to go to the college this year. It is a co-educational school but mainly for boys because there is no other option for boys in Clonakilty. Due to that, 33 pupils had no place to go. It created significant hardship for families, the school community and everyone else associated with it.
I acknowledge the principal and the board of management for the work they have done on this issue. They have found a way of accommodating nearly every single one. I am nearly sure they will accommodate the three who are left. It is down to the good work of the principal and the board that we are in that scenario.
This is now a matter of making sure we future-proof this problem. I will be before the Minister of State next year debating how we need to have school places for Clonakilty. Thirty kids were not allowed to go to the school, even though they were on the waiting list and all came from feeder schools. When you are on the feeder school system, you are intending and hoping to get a place and then you just do not get that place. However, it mainly affects the boys because the boys cannot go to the convent. They mainly go to the college and, because of that, they have no other option if they do not get a place. They must go outside of the town to places such as Bandon, where there is a significant waiting list and which is miles away from the actual locality. It is a matter of trying to join up all the dots. What will now happen is that 120 kids will go into the school and 100 will leave, and therefore there will be an extra 20 in the school. In the short term, we need modular accommodation to be put in place. That needs to be the first priority and focus of the Government. We need to make sure there is an appropriate PE hall and an Astroturf put in place because they will be building these modular classrooms on the playground.
In the long term, for a town the size of Clonakilty and the growth that is happening there, where the county development plan states there will be a predicted 1,000 more people living in the town by 2028, we need to have a significant look at how we will accommodate these kids because they will all need to school. The knock-on implications of the bad planning is the issue now. We need a short-term plan for modular accommodation put in place, but we also need to start talking about where we will put an extension or even another school for the Clonakilty area. Clonakilty is a huge catchment. It takes in places like Ring. I mentioned Ring and Darrary, where people had no option. They could go to Clonakilty. Bandon was miles away from them and Dunmanway was on the other side of the mountain, so it just would not make sense. These schools depend on Clonakilty having capacity to take in the kids. Unfortunately, however, there is a capacity issue. They have taken in the 120 and we now need to see a system put in place whereby they can be accommodated going forward, particularly for the next three years, from now until first class, because figures show there is a huge spike in the student population in Clonakilty. It is a serious issue that needs to be addressed in a short space of time.
I thank Senator Lombard for raising this very important matter. It provides the Minister for Education with an opportunity to outline a response. The Minister is at Cabinet today and was unable to attend to respond to the Senator’s Commencement matter.
For school planning purposes the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, GIS, to anticipate school place demand. Information systems from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity, are used for this purpose. Additionally, there is Project Ireland 2040’s population and housing targets from the Department's projections school place requirements. Having considered the projected requirements in each school planning area, the Department then makes an assessment of the existing capacity within that particular area and its ability to meet any increased demand. Additionally, provision is also made where the existing capacity is insufficient for future needs.
The Department is aware of pressures at post-primary level in the Clonakilty school planning area and of a significant volume of applications for admissions across the two post-primary schools. These applications include some duplications where families have applied to both schools for a school place, as they are entitled to do. In that context, a critical next step is to acquire clarity on the number of additional first-year places required for 2024 in order for an appropriate solution to be put in place. For that purpose, schools in a number of areas of enrolment pressure, including Clonakilty, were requested to share data on applications for admissions. Both post-primary schools in Clonakilty were very prompt in returning their requested information, and the Department is currently analysing the data with a view to establishing the actual requirement for school places and any required specific actions as soon as possible.
To further inform our planning school management process, school management bodies are assisting with a detailed analysis of school capacity in a number of areas, taking account of school-specific factors, such as current class groupings and subject offerings.
The analysis of all available information and close engagement with schools, patrons and management bodies will ensure that the real need for school places is fully understood and the optimum solutions can be identified. The continued close engagement with schools and patrons will also allow the Department to identify particular further capacity requirements for the forthcoming years and to put any required solutions in place, beyond those already in train, to ensure sufficient school places to meet the needs of students in this area.
In addition, the Department is progressing a number of building projects in the Clonakilty school planning area under the national development plan. This includes projects at post-primary schools and includes provision for mainstream accommodation, as well as for children with special educational needs. These projects include a recently completed extension for Clonakilty Community College. Additionally, a significant extension for Sacred Heart Secondary School has been approved and is currently at stage 1.
I assure the Senator that Department officials will continue to actively engage with schools and patrons to ensure appropriate provision for all students across the schools in Clonakilty for the 2024-25 school year and into the future. Families can be assured that any necessary solution will be delivered so that all the children in Clonakilty will receive a school place. The priority for the Department of Education is to ensure that places are available for all children for the next school year. Officials will continue to engage with patrons and school authorities in this regard. I expect further clarity will be provided to families and school communities in the coming weeks.
I welcome the acknowledgement of what is happening in Clonakilty. This is not rocket science. If 120 kids are coming in and 100 are going out, there is a deficit of places. There is an increase of 20 in the number of kids going to the school. We need a short-term measure to be put in place to ensure these kids will be catered for. That is the first and basic thing.
The census and county development plan show there will be another 1,800 people living in Clonakilty by 2028. What does that mean? It means there will be more kids and that more capacity will be required. What is really needed is a plan for the community college. The plan is clear. In the short term, we need to ensure modular accommodation is put in place and the Astroturf for which the college has covered 50% of the cost, needs to be provided to ensure kids have the space required and the option of activity at break times. In the long term, the college will need another extension. There is room, capacity and space at the back of the college.
It will be the same story next year. If not for the good work of the principal and the committee, we would not be in the scenario whereby all kids are being accommodated. There is great frustration - and I thank the Acting Chairperson for allowing me to finish this point - within the community that we have not solved this problem. Parents who are past pupils of the school cannot get their children into it or are having trouble doing so. We need to give people an assurance. This is unusual. Boys in Clonakilty have no other place to go. They cannot go to the convent, so they have to go to this school. It is a coeducational school and spaces are limited. Boys from Clonakilty and the surrounding areas may have to go to Roscarbery, Dunmanway or Bandon in order to attend school. That makes no sense whatsoever.
I thank the Senator for outlining the strong case for school places in Clonakilty. As was contained in the response from the Department, it is clear it will ensure that every child has a place in September 2024. The Senator has acknowledged the investment that has already taken place in Clonakilty Community College and has made a significant case for more investment in that key educational facility. We need to talk to the Minister about that. I will raise the Senator's valid concerns and the arguments he has put before the Seanad with the Minister for Education. I also acknowledge that a large-scale project is planned for the Sacred Heart school in the town.
It is important that we future-proof education and see these problems coming. We have a diverse and growing population in this country. We need to cater further for educational needs. I again thank the Senator for raising this matter. I assure him I will bring what he has said to the attention of the Minister for Education.
I thank the Minister of State for his time. Everyone is busy coming up to Christmas, and that is very much the case for Ministers of State.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.35 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 12 noon.
Sitting suspended at 11.35 a.m. and resumed at 12 noon.