Rose Conway-Walsh: Demands PE Halls for Schools Facing Inequality

Minister, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the importance of having adequate facilities and crucially space in our schools. In September 2018, a significant monetary commitment was made to ensure that all secondary schools would have access to PE facilities. This was reiterated in the National Development Plan last month. However, schools on the ground are not seeing any changes here, some waiting years for crucial school hall facilities. When will these be delivered? I wish to confirm to the Deputy that the majority of schools through the general purpose room, physical education halls and practically all schools' outdoor play areas. In addition, many schools use adjacent local facilities including community halls, public parks, playing fields and swimming pools. Investment and expenditure on PE halls is an element of the overall expenditure and investment in the school building programme. The provision of PE halls and outdoor hard play areas such as basketball courts form part of the accommodation brief for all new school buildings, or where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school. The Department provides general purpose in PE halls with the construction of all new primary and post-primary schools respectively. These facilities may also be provided where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school. In addition, the Department's design guidelines for all new schools provides for outdoor multi-use games areas, hard play areas and the level of play space provided varies with the size of the school. For example, a new 24 classroom primary school with special education needs classes is provided with three ball courts, two junior play areas as well as a secure, hard and soft play area and a 100m2 sensory garden. In respect of new post-primary schools, a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school is provided with six ball courts and a 200m2 secure, hard and soft special education play area. The main focus of resources over the last decade, as you will appreciate and for the coming period, is on the provision of additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics, particularly at post-primary level and for special education need provision. The Deputy will appreciate that the immediate priority of the Department is providing new and replacement school places each year to ensure that every child is a school place. However, the second half of the National Development Plan period will see an increasing focus on the upgrade and refurbishment of the existing school stock. This will include a PE hall build and modernisation programme to ensure that students in all post-primary schools have access to appropriate facilities and support PE provision. The ancillary accommodation needs of primary schools such as general purpose rooms will also be considered. Details of large-scale projects being delivered under the school building programme may be viewed on the Department's website. In addition, a list of large-scale projects completed from 2010 to date may also be viewed on the website. Many schools across the country have no access to school hall facilities at all. Many talented students want to study Leaving Cert PE but they cannot access it as their school does not have the facilities. This is not good enough. It creates a real inequality. What will you do to ensure that all students who wish to study PE at Leaving Cert will have the same opportunity to do so, and that their school will be provided with the resources to facilitate this? It is my understanding that currently the Department are only focusing, as you said, on school halls in new builds, or where schools are undergoing significant renovation. This means that schools operating on older and existing buildings are losing out. Is it the case that the Department are not allowing applications for hall facilities for existing school buildings? Will you reverse this policy decision to allow all schools to have adequate access to adequate PE facilities, as committed to under the National Development Plan? Ms Minister. Thank you very much, Deputy. As I have previously outlined, the Department does have a significant pipeline of projects to be delivered over the coming years to meet capacity needs managed under the large-scale capital programme and the additional school accommodation scheme. This does involve in excess of 1,200 school building projects across various stages of planning, design, tender and construction. The current status of these projects being delivered is listed on a county-by-county basis, as I have said to you on the website. There are currently 377 schools or 338 projects listed on the large-scale capital programme, which would be expected to provide new PE halls at post-primary level where none already exist, or GP halls at primary level where none exist. Under Project Ireland 2040, the education sector will receive a total of approximately $4.4 billion capital investment over the period of 2021 to 2025. You are correct that the focus presently is on new bills and where there is a significant upgrade of the school. Equally so, I appreciate the importance of this area of provision, but it is part of our plan going forward. Ministers, the challenge is that schools are obviously operating in real time. We have to allow enough flexibility for the older schools to be able to have these facilities as well, otherwise we are creating a real inequality. We have to work in the real time in what is here and what is now in the same way as we do in terms of ventilation, in terms of having clean air in schools and all of those things. I think the problem in general with the approach of the department and yourself, Minister, is that everything will be okay in time to come. But teachers are the coalface and they have to meet the challenges here and now. They have to ensure that there is equality within their own schools and between schools as well, in order to meet the real needs of the students who are there currently. Thank you. Deputy, I want to be very clear. There is an absolute commitment from the department to provide all the necessary provisions and opportunities that are necessary within the education sector. It is true to say that we have presently presided over the single greatest investment in education in the most recent budget. Equally to say that there is a breadth of vision in terms of education, in terms of the provision of new bills, in the provision, and we have discussed it earlier, senior cycle reform, provision as Minister Madigan has referred to in terms of special education needs. There is an enormous breadth of vision for education and indeed there is an enormous investment in education from the point of view of this present government. Specifically in terms of new building, refurbishing existing buildings, there is a particular concentration at present on the provision of places for all students. But there is an equal emphasis being placed on the provision of appropriate facilities and resources for students also. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on. Thank you. Moving on.