No timeframe for new Laois school for Portlaoise that can't get from A to B

Plans to build a home for a secondary school in Portlaoise are stuck between stages A and B in the Department of Education but in the absence of an approval and timeframe more prefab classrooms are on the way.

The situation facing students and teachers of Coláiste Dhún Másc / Dunamase College was outlined in the Dáil by Laois TD Brian Stanley who asked about the timescale of delivery and highlighted what he said was a shortage of spaces in secondary schools across Laois.

"I raise the matter in the context of a chronic shortage of second-level places. It is not just in Portlaoise but in Co Laois in general that there is a significant issue with capacity. The school got approval for a 1,000-pupil new building four years ago. It has 570 very enthusiastic pupils at the moment and excellent staff but the school is very limited," he said.

He told Minister of State Ossian Smyth that pupils must move between Railway Street, the old CBS in Tower Hill and the old primary school in Church Avenue each day to attend classes.

"I know from the local education and training board and from the school authorities that it could take hundreds of more pupils – hundreds of parents are willing to send their children there – but they cannot get into the school," he said.

He said parents will send their children to school anywhere in the county.

"They will send their children to any secondary school, not just in Portlaoise but in the general area, but the problem is they cannot get in. We have a problem with capacity," he said.

In relation to Dunamase College, which has more than 550 pupils, Dep Stanley said there is a site and the money has been approved for a 1,000-capacity building. Dep Stanley claimed it was at Stage 2A which is the design phase. He called for this to be advanced to 2B which would allow planning permission to be sought.

In reply, Minister of State Smyth said Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board appointed a design team in 2021 He said The project is currently at stage 2A of the architectural design process - developed design. The stage 2A report has been received by the Department of Education and has been reviewed by the Department's professional and technical staff.

Minister Smyth said the required stage 2A meeting with departmental officials, the appointed design team and representatives from Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board was scheduled to take place on December 2.

"Following this meeting and approval of the stage 2A report, if appropriate, the project will then progress on to stage 2B. At this stage, the design team will obtain the planning approvals, prepare a set of fully detailed tender documents and an accurate pre-tender cost plan to reflect the full implications of the statutory approvals.

"The Department will then be in a position to review the project from a technical and cost perspective. This analysis is in accordance with the due diligence required under the public spending code to ensure the proposed project is fully assessed from a value for money perspective before the State proceeds to tender and construction.

"As the devolved delivery body, Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board will continue to engage directly with the school community to keep it informed of progress. As the project is currently at an early stage, it is not possible to project an exact date for completion," he said.

In the meantime, he added that more temporary accommodation would be provided.

"To cater for the school's immediate enrolment requirements, the Department is providing six mainstream classrooms under the modular accommodation framework, and the installation of these units will be practically completed in the coming months," he said.

He added that since 2020, the Government has invested in the region of €3.5 billion in schools throughout the country.

Concern and reassurance over construction delay for Laois special school

Full text from Dáil on December 1

Dep Brian Stanley: I welcome the opportunity to raise this issue. I understand the Minister for Education is out of the country and I hope the Minister of State, who is present on behalf of the Government, will take back the message I am giving here this morning regarding the important matter of Coláiste Dhún Másc in Portlaoise, which was opened in 2017 to cater for the growing population of the town and the general area.

The school has had to limit enrolment. The Minister of State is probably aware that Portlaoise is the fastest-growing town in the country outside of Dublin.

I raise the matter in the context of a chronic shortage of second-level places. It is not just in Portlaoise but in County Laois in general that there is a significant issue with capacity. The school got approval for a 1,000-pupil new building four years ago. It has 570 very enthusiastic pupils at the moment and excellent staff but the school is very limited.

It operates on three different campuses: the old vocational school in Railway Street, the old CBS in Tower Hill and the old primary school in Church Avenue. The Minister of State can imagine they are doing their best with that. It is not that pupils attend one of those units in the morning for the entire day; they have to move regularly.

In fact, a pedestrian crossing had to be put in for them, as well as special traffic-calming measures, to allow them to be able to move freely between the different schools. It is logistically difficult but it works with the co-operation of the parents, the school board, staff and pupils. The Minister of State can see the difficulty. The school has 570 pupils. I know from the local education and training board and from the school authorities that it could take hundreds of more pupils – hundreds of parents are willing to send their children there – but they cannot get into the school.

I will give the Minister of State a flavour of what is happening. Enrolment opened in some of the second-level schools in October. The Minister of State is probably aware of this from his constituency. Parents come to us in August and say they have just applied but they cannot get their child into a school in the area.

Of two parents who applied to another second-level school in the area on the first day enrolment opened in early October, one is now in 92nd place and the other is in 94th place on the waiting list. They have little chance of getting in. They will send their children to any secondary school, not just in Portlaoise but in the general area, but the problem is they cannot get in. We have a problem with capacity.

The census figures and all of the indicators such as planning permission, the baptism rate, birth rates and demographics for Portlaoise are moving in the direction of an increased population.

Coláiste Dhún Másc has two streams, Gaeilge agus Béarla. That has worked out very well. It started off very small in the beginning but it has literally mushroomed, and both sides of the school are thriving. We must get to a situation where they are on the one campus. The good news is that a site has been secured in Summerhill. It is more good news that funding has been approved. If it had not, I would be here arguing with the Minister of State about that. Stage 2A has been submitted to the Department. Stage 2B has also gone to the Department. That is what we need as it would give the green light to go to planning permission, which is what is needed at the moment.

Deputy Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Stanley for raising this important issue. It gives me an opportunity to outline to the House the current position on the large-scale, major devolved project under delivery at Coláiste Dhún Másc, Portlaoise. I am providing this response on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, who, as the Deputy says, is out of the country.

Coláiste Dhún Másc is a co-educational, mainstream, second-level school under the patronage of Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board. It currently has an enrolment of 555 students and is accommodated in three buildings around Railway Street, Portlaoise to cater for the expansion in its enrolments in recent years.

To meet the ongoing and projected upward trend in post-primary school enrolments in the town, Coláiste Dhún Másc, Portlaoise received approval under the large-scale capital programme for the provision of a 1,000-pupil post-primary school with a four classroom SEN base. The project has been devolved for delivery to Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board. The brief also includes a PE hall, 37 general classrooms, special education teaching rooms, numerous specialist rooms to support the delivery of a wide curricular choice, including science, art and crafts, music, textiles, design and communication graphics, technical graphics, home economics, construction, engineering and technology, in addition to a library and the required offices and ancillary spaces and all the things associated with a school of this size.

Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board appointed a design team in 2021. The project is currently at stage 2A of the architectural design process - developed design. The stage 2A report has been received by the Department of Education and has been reviewed by the Department's professional and technical staff. The required stage 2A meeting with departmental officials, the appointed design team and representatives from Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board is scheduled to take place tomorrow. Following this meeting and approval of the stage 2A report, if appropriate, the project will then progress on to stage 2B.

At this stage, the design team will obtain the planning approvals, prepare a set of fully detailed tender documents and an accurate pre-tender cost plan to reflect the full implications of the statutory approvals. The Department will then be in a position to review the project from a technical and cost perspective. This analysis is in accordance with the due diligence required under the public spending code to ensure the proposed project is fully assessed from a value for money perspective before the State proceeds to tender and construction.

As the devolved delivery body, Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board will continue to engage directly with the school community to keep it informed of progress. As the project is currently at an early stage, it is not possible to project an exact date for completion.

To cater for the school's immediate enrolment requirements, the Department is providing six mainstream classrooms under the modular accommodation framework, and the installation of these units will be practically completed in the coming months.

The use of the Department's modular accommodation framework assists in ensuring lead-in periods for procurement of modular accommodation are minimised to the greatest extent possible. To date, this has worked very well in the education sector and has seen delivery of large scale, high-quality modular accommodation to meet the needs of children, especially those with special educational needs.

The school authority has overall responsibility for delivery of the project and the project is currently at construction on site. I assure the Deputy the Department has a strong track record of delivery and the main focus is on ensuring every child has a school place. Since 2020, we have invested in the region of €3.5 billion in our schools throughout the country. This has involved the completion of over 690 school building projects with construction currently under way on approximately 300 other projects. School building projects at construction involve an overall State investment of over €1.2 billion. We also have 200 modular accommodation projects that are well advanced.

This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government's very strong track record of delivery in providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.

Deputy Brian Stanley: I thank the Minister of State for that reply. I am aware the meeting is happening tomorrow with the ETB and Department officials. Laois-Offaly Education and Training Board has a great record of delivering capital builds. Since the old VECs were amalgamated into a single body, it has really expanded and is providing huge education and training opportunities in both Laois and Offaly. I am confident of its part in this and welcome that the meeting is happening, which I was aware of before today. I am asking that we move this on. I have outlined how Portlaoise is oversubscribed.

The spillover of this affects Mountrath and Mountmellick. All second level schools in that middle part of Laois are full and that is a good thing. We need this capacity put in. As I said, we have the fastest growing town outside Dublin. The ETB is anxious to do it. The school authorities are too and obviously the school staff are because they are trying to deal with the situation daily. It can be challenging, but I have to give them ten out of ten. They are able to manage to do it and successfully educate 570 and that is good.

I am asking the Minister of State to take the message back to the Minister that we can move to stage 2b. That is where we want to get to. That would allow the board to apply for planning permission to Laois County Council. That meeting is happening. The Minister of State is taking this on behalf of the Government and the Minister. What I want him to take back is that it is really important that she ensures tomorrow there are no false starts. This must go through so that we are into stage 2b and go straight to planning. I am confident the county council will move this quickly. It always prioritises schools and critical infrastructure. I am confident the ETB will do so and I am asking the Minister and the Department to do the same thing.

Deputy Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. He has made his case very clearly and very well. As he said, I am a Deputy as well and I face requests from parents for school places for their child coming up to the next school year. As the Deputy knows from the census results, every county has a growing population, so there are demands all around the country for new schools and 300 school projects are happening at the moment. It is important and I can see this is a critical project in a very fast-growing town. The school is moving from 555 enrolled students to 1,000 with an amazing array of facilities in the new school. It must be difficult for a school to be split between three campuses and I understand that. It is a real sign of progress that a meeting is happening tomorrow between the ETB and the Department to decide whether to move ahead from stage 2a to 2b.

As the Deputy said, it is at stage 2b that the planning application can be made and further progress can be made on this application. I met the Minister, Deputy Foley, last week because I launched the project to put free solar panels on every school in Ireland and I will say it to her when I see her again. I will let her know what the Deputy said about the project in Portlaoise and how critical it is for the parents and students in the town that project goes ahead as soon as possible.