Schools Building Projects

I know the Minister of State is aware of this project and I thank him for his engagement with it to date. I am asking him to make the school building project at St. Joseph’s Secondary School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo education campus in Rush an absolute priority. They are not simply two schools coming together to form a campus in one building. They are two schools at the heart of a growing community and both are bursting at the seams. The accommodation in both schools is no longer fit for purpose or for the needs of the children attending them. Gaelscoil Ros Eo is now operating entirely out of prefabricated buildings. Let that sink in. An entire school community is trying to deliver education in prefabs, while children deserve and need a permanent modern school building. St. Joseph's Secondary School is also under enormous pressure struggling to accommodate pupils in a community where demand for school places continues to grow. Rush is home to one of the youngest and quickest-growing populations in the country and our schools are feeling that pressure every single day. As more families move into the area, more children will need school places. The pressure on existing facilities is becoming untenable. This population growth should be something to celebrate as the sign of a thriving, effervescent community, but we cannot celebrate it while failing to provide the basic public infrastructure that families need. These families have waited long enough. Parents have been waiting 15 years. As someone who went to St. Joseph's Secondary School, it could be argued we started talking about this back in the nineties. We are getting there but we are still at the stage of talking. I experienced those 15 years of broken promises as a member of staff at St. Joseph's Secondary School and as a public representative. Parents are now seeing their older children go to college while their younger children are still being taught in an unfit building. It is simply unfair that they do not have the facilities they deserve. A child who started primary school when these projects first became an issue may now be approaching third level. We cannot allow another generation of children to pass through the education system while this project remains outstanding. I understand the project is now at tender set stage and that the necessary documents will go fairly soon to the Department. This is a critical moment at which action and leadership on the part of the Department are needed. St. Joseph's Secondary School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo are not looking for special treatment. They are asking for fairness. The data shows the need that exits; there is no doubt about that. I ask that the needs of the children and families of this community are recognised and acted upon. We need this project to be prioritised and the paperwork to be progressed without delay. We need approval, commitment and a clear timeframe for delivery. We need to be on the next funding list for school builds. Our children should not have to learn in overcrowded classrooms or spend their school years in temporary accommodation because infrastructure has failed to keep pace with population growth. Every child needs a safe, modern and permanent place to learn. Every teacher deserves an environment in which he or she can teach. Every parent deserves the assurance that his or her child's school has the facilities it needs. Both of these schools have waited 15 years for their new campus. The children cannot wait any longer. I am asking that this project be prioritised once it comes to the Department. It is time to deliver it.

I thank the Deputy for consistently raising this matter at every opportunity. I know how invested he has been in St. Joseph's Secondary School from his schooldays and through to the present. He has had considerable engagement with the Department and with me on this project over the past while. The campus project for St. Joseph's Secondary School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo represents an important element of the Department of Education and Youth's overall school building programme. The project is being delivered under the Department's major devolved programme, which works with external delivery partners, supported by a buildings officer, to progress it through the relevant stages of architectural planning, tender and construction. The delivery of the project has been devolved to CEIST. The project brief for St. Joseph's Secondary School provides for a 1,000-pupil post-primary school, which will include a four-classroom special educational needs, SEN, base. The brief for Gaelscoil Ros Eo includes the delivery of a 16-classroom primary school and a two-classroom SEN base. The project is currently at stage 2b, which is detailed design. During this stage, statutory approvals are obtained and the project design is further progressed to reflect any conditions of planning. In mid-June, Department officials contacted the school to advise that the project remains under review in the context of national development plan, NDP, parameters and the overall prioritisation of capital investment. The Department awaits submission of the stage 2b report from CEIST, which is expected before the end of the year. All school building projects, as they progress through the pipeline, must undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the infrastructure guidelines and capital works management framework. The timing of a project moving from one stage to the next requires careful planning and takes account of factors such as compliance with all scope, design and cost requirements, timing of affordability and the prioritisation necessary for the school building programme to remain within the agreed annual budget. Department officials will continue to engage with the school over the coming months and to provide any necessary guidance. It is expected that the next tranche of projects to proceed to tender will be published in 2027. Prioritisation will continue over the coming months to identify this tranche of projects. This will be informed by the latest available demographic and capacity data, the Department's energy and condition inventory, the validation of which is due to be completed by early 2027, opportunities for phased development to prioritise the most urgent accommodation needs, and consultation with patrons and management bodies. The campus project for St Joseph's Secondary School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo will be considered as part of that prioritisation process, along with all other projects. I take on board the Deputy's points regarding this particular project. We are working with CEIST and the school authorities to ensure all paperwork and all reports are being processed through the Department, which is happening as we speak.

I appreciate the Minister of State's understanding of the issues, including the working through of the documentation phase. Mercifully, as far as I understand, we are about to come out of stage 2b, where we have been for a long time. I totally accept the need for due diligence and for the process to be done properly. I know the Department constantly receives representations from all over the country about new builds, all of which, no doubt, have merit. Having attended St. Joseph's Secondary School and later worked there, I can say it is now more prefab than school. The square metreage per student is probably one of the tightest in the country due to the population growth in the community. My former colleagues at the school, as I am sure is also the case in Gaelscoil Ros Eo, are doing Trojan work in buildings that, with the best will in the world, have aged out. Students in St. Joseph's have to walk anticlockwise around the school to get to their next class because if they were to take the shortest route, it would be bedlam with more than 1,000 students in a building of that size. That process might have been useful during the Covid period but it is a necessity now. I very much appreciate the Minister of State's reply. My understanding is that the project is at the tender set stage. I am asking that once the documents go to the Department, which I hope will be sooner rather than later, that this project be included in the next tranche of funding under the 2027 list.

The Department is awaiting the submission on the stage 2b report from CEIST, which is expected before year end. It is hugely important that there be no delay in terms of that documentation being processed. On the fundamental point, we are talking about one of the fastest-growing parts of the country. That means we are obliged to ensure we understand the need that exists at primary and post-primary level, not just this year or next year but into the future as well. It is important to make sure that CEIST is putting forward the documentation. From what I understand from the brief, there is no delay in that regard but it is important that it be presented to the Department as soon as possible. I assure the Deputy that I will go back to the officials and make sure there is no delay on our side. He has made his points well. I have answered a number of Topical Issues and questions here on school buildings but this is the first time I have heard about the need for an anticlockwise walk around a school to make sure the space is utilised as well as possible. Principals and school leaders have shown great innovation in dealing with what they have but that is a new one on me.