Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers school hall

Summary

Deputy Gould objected to a new school hall at Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers being too small and said the school was being asked to fundraise the shortfall. Minister of State Madigan said major capital funding was going into schools and offered to discuss the issue with the Education Minister.

Thomas Gould Sinn Féin

After 28 years Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers got the good news this year it will get a new school building, but then it was shocked to find out that the new school hall would be 195 sq. m, which is too small.

It is a disgrace. It turns out that it is now Department of Education policy to build school halls of this size for primary schools. When the school approached the Department, it was told to fundraise the additional €100,000. This is a Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, band 1 school. We are talking about getting kids involved in sport and PE, yet we are not building halls that are fit for purpose.

Will the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, ask the Minister for Education to instruct her Department to build school halls like we did 15 or 20 years ago? It seems this was an austerity cut that is still in place.

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Josepha Madigan Minister of State at the Department of Education Fine Gael

My understanding is that approximately €4 billion is going into the building of schools through the planning and building unit in the Department of Education. If the Deputy wants to bring his query to me, I will have a conversation with the Minister for Education about it.

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