Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, Deputy Moynihan.

I thank the Minister of State for coming in and taking this important Commencement matter. There is an increasing problem whereby schools are facing serious structural issues and they are not being allocated the resources to get things right and function properly. I raised in this House a couple of weeks ago the issues that CBS Westland Row has. As I am sure the Minister of State knows, that is not too far from here; it is a short walk. In that school, there is a defective downpipe and it has caused mayhem. It has closed the boys' toilets. It has also made many of the classrooms unsafe and unhealthy for teachers and students alike. That, understandably, is affecting the morale within the school. This is a school that is working with some of the most disadvantaged and diverse communities in the country. There was money allocated to the school to do some remedial work on the downpipe. There was a certain amount provided, so the immediate job will be done. However, the school is a very old building. It is naturally showing, like the rest of us when we get old, signs of ageing and creaking and it requires a lot of work just to make it safe and hygienic to work in. The school was assigned funds for other works previously and not all of that was spent. The money is there, and it needs to be reassigned to fix the serious works that are required. We need to see some common sense around this. The money was allocated for maintenance work. Some of that was spent. There was some left over. Why is that money not reallocated to the school to do the really important emergency works that are required there? I am sure there is somebody in the Department who is just ticking boxes. The Minister needs to intervene and show some common sense to get this resolved and get the school up to the proper standard.

Just down the road from CBS Westland Row is Ringsend boys' and girls' school. This school is going to be amalgamated, so certain works need to be carried out to facilitate the amalgamation. In January, representatives from the building section of the Department visited the school and saw for themselves the dire state of the toilets. "Grim" was the word used to describe them. They are grim. The school principal in Ringsend was told that the toilets issue would be addressed during the summer to allow for the schools to be amalgamated in September as planned. Without the work on the toilets being carried out, amalgamation will not be able to go ahead. If this school was in Foxrock or one of the affluent areas, I doubt these really important works would have been refused. However, pupils in Ringsend are required to tolerate Dickensian conditions. We need to know why it took so long to reply to the original application.

The application was sent in July 2025 and the school did not get a reply until February 2026. That is pretty extraordinary. The school is upset by that as well as the work not being done. Why was it not flagged months ago that it should have been a summer works application? That should have been flagged ages ago. The school is of the belief now - I was speaking to the principal yesterday - that the work will be done which is welcome but I am not convinced. We will have to see that this work is done and that the amalgamation will go ahead. It has other issues that also need to be addressed which include teacher allocation and the fact that Ringsend boys' and girls' school has not received DEIS plus designation. That has to be addressed as well.

I thank Senator Andrews for raising the issues in relation to the schools in Westland Row and Ringsend. In the overall sense, the Department has a number of funding streams in emergency funding and summer works funding to deal with ongoing maintenance issues. The Senator outlined the issues in relation to downpipes and toilets. I understand the challenges when you are working in a building that is old and needs constant upgrading. That can dampen the spirit not alone of the teams teaching and working there, the SNAs and all the other teams, but also of the students. There was engagement with CBS Westland Row over the past while and there is continuing engagement on it. The summer works scheme was developed a number of years ago to try to ensure there would be a funding stream for remedial work to schools. The emergency works fund is available throughout the school year. Schools can apply for emergency works needed to ensure the smooth running of the school. I pay tribute to the school communities in the schools in Ringsend and Westland Row. The Senator mentioned his conversation with the principal. I am happy to take that further if the Senator provides me with further details. There is engagement. There are always issues with amalgamations to ensure they take place and there are practical issues the Department has to streamline. The Senator also mentioned letters from July and February, some seven months apart. I will ensure that is speeded up. If the Senator wants to give me further details on the outstanding issues there, I will take them up, and in Westland Row as well.

There is a huge budget for capital investment in schools. We are aware of the challenges to make sure school communities are working properly particularly in disadvantaged areas. The Senator raised the issue regarding DEIS plus. I do not have the brief this morning on that but I am happy to engage further with him. I know all of the school communities he raised with me are working in challenging circumstances, delivering an education to vulnerable people and a diverse group. One has to compliment that. As I have done over the past year, when you go into schools particularly in the city here, you see the challenges they face and how the school community, leadership, teachers, SNAs and entire school team are working. Specifically in relation to the schools the Senator raised, I am willing to work with him on the outstanding issues. We have seen over many decades that when school amalgamations are done very well with a great foundation, it leads to better outcomes for the children and the entire community. Amalgamations are not something the State or the Department have taken lightly over many years. When founded on very good principles and co-operation, it can work well. I will take that up. We will try to get information back to the Senator on DEIS as well. On downpipes, simple problems with roofing or otherwise can lead to huge challenges across the system. The Senator mentioned concerning Ringsend that officials used the word "grim". It is really worrying to me when you see that. I will take up the two school communities and work to make sure we meet any challenges we can meet in the Department. The Department does not have an infinite amount of money but we have money to make sure we are working to have school communities up and running. If he has any further information he wishes to give me, I will be only too happy to go back to the Department and get a response.

I thank the Minister of State for that very helpful response and offer to follow up. Ringsend boys' and girls' school is fighting on and working on another issue at the moment. The Department of education looked at its student enrolment for 30 September 2025 as two separate schools rather than one. They had 280 pupils combined on 30 September and its retention figure is 279. Even though they are amalgamating and there will be one school for all of these pupils, the Department of education looked at them as two schools for the purpose of allocating teachers, resulting in the loss of a teacher as the girls' school was just short of the retention figure. That is far from ideal. It would be okay if they were not amalgamating but they are. They were counted as two separate schools when they should have been counted as one. I ask that the Department look at the combined number rather than at two separate schools.

They are amalgamating and becoming one school from 1 September 2026. The roll numbers were taken. In my experience of amalgamations, where everything has been worked out very well and to allocate resources afterwards, even last year, in a number of schools in which we were involved and they were allocating resources for SNA or teachers, the two old roll numbers stayed in place until the end of the school year. To allocate the resources, we had to wait for the new school number. We just have to push through these technical issues because they are structural issues. It may well be that there is an issue. I will with a heart and a half take up that issue. As I said, if we are to do amalgamations well - amalgamations will serve the school community not just now but into future generations - and if we do them right at the very start, they can be very effective. In some instances there have been difficulties setting it up which can lead to further challenges down the line. I will take that up. If the Senator would share the Ringsend roll number for both schools we can have a look at that and respond.