Kathy Sinnott

by Kathy Sinnott

School building in Ireland, is an unnecessarily torturous process whether it is the building of a new school or the extending, repairing or renovating of an existing one. The slow bureaucratic stages from first application to the Minister for Education to the official opening by his or her distant successor, means that thousands of children spend their education in inadequate, sometimes even dangerous, environments.

Last week, I received a response from the current Minister for Education, Batt O’Keefe about one of the schools that I have been supporting in their building application. His response really worried me. He indicated that in the current economic crisis the long school building process would be even longer.

May I take the opportunity to reply to the minister publicly as the overcrowded situation that children face again in September in primary schools like Passage West, Ballygarvan, Rathcormac, in special units like Midleton and in secondary schools like Kinsale are a matter of public concern.

Minister, these and other schools like them have experienced nothing but delay for many years, if by more delay you mean that they should no longer expect to get the buildings they need then please say so in plain language.

And if you are not able to provide the nation’s children with appropriate school buildings then will you at least step aside, lift your policy restrictions so that these communities can provide school buildings for themselves.

The cost to the taxpayer of a completed school building under the present system is incredibly high. Add to that the cost of a decade or more of renting prefabs while waiting to build and an even higher level of cost emerges. Now that money is scare, we should be spending what we have in the most cost effective manner and that means making the system of school building much more efficient and flexible.

Under the present school system, the department authorizes, arranges, and contracts to build most schools. I suggest that it become possible for the school itself, the community or parish to opt to take over this process of building their own school buildings.

If rather than futilely waiting for the Department of Education to authorise funds, local people could seek social investment, loans or fundraise then I am convinced that children across the country would be in proper classrooms by September 2010 if not sooner. The department could then hand over the monies presently spent on prefab rental to pay off the new building over time.

For example, the Department spends €80,000 annually on prefabs for the national school in Rathcormac. The community could, if it wishes, build its own school given the assurance that when the building is complete and prefabs have been eliminated this€80,000 annual savings would be handed over to reimburse the cost of building.

It would not take many years to pay off the debt, the taxpayer would not have any extra money to spend and all the while the children would be enjoying the new building.

I have been told by several school-building committees that local builders have offered to build their schools at cost and ahead of payment, why not let them. It may not the best time to fundraise, but if communities took that option, people will support it because they will see where their money is going and know that the money will come back into the community as the Department of Education pays for the building over time.

The added beauty of letting the local community take the lead is that they are likely to build a better school for less money and create local employment at the same time. If parents and teachers oversee the design of a school, you may be sure that the building will have facilities for a hot lunch, room for indoor and outdoor sport, etc. important facilities that are taken for granted in schools outside of Ireland.

I would urge the Minister for Education, to consider this proposal seriously and respond accordingly. I am convinced that there are many communities who would rather put their energy into constructing their school rather than the endless lobbying, begging and protesting required to get your department to eventually do it