Tender decision on school sports hall 'within two months'

Ashbourne Community School will find out if it can go to tender for its new sports hall within the next two months, according to information given to local Senator Dominic Hannigan. Senator Hannigan raised the matter in the Seanad on Thursday, during an adjournment debate when he noted that, at the moment, the 1,000 students at the school did not have their own sports hall and had to rely on facilities outside the school for their sports exercises. He said this could be rectified if the Department of Education allowed the school to go to tender for its proposed new sports hall. The proposed sports hall, which has already received planning permission from Meath County Council, also includes provision for a canteen area. "At the moment, pupils don't have any place to sit down and eat their lunch - some of them are eating their lunch in the school corridors," he told the minister. Senator Hannigan said he raised the matter after being asked to do so by parents of children at the school and told the minister that there was cross-party agreement on the need for this, commenting that Fianna Fail's Deputy Mary Wallace was also keen to see the facility progressed. Responding to the debate, Minister of State John Moloney said that the application for whether or not to allow this project to proceed is currently being examined by the Department's professional and technical staff and a report is expected from them within the next two months. Following an examination of this report in the Department's planning and building unit, a decision will be conveyed to the school authority. Speaking afterwards, Senator Hannigan said: "It is important that we keep this pressure up. Tender prices are low now, there's lots of Ashbourne-based construction workers who would love to work locally on a project like this. Ashbourne Community School is nearly 20 years-old and we won't wait another 20 for a sports hall." Meanwhile, the Labour Party senator has also called for a fair share for Meath in the next round of Sports Capital Programme. He said that recent figures from Minister Mary Hanafin indicated that, in the 10 years from 1998 to 2008, sporting clubs and organisations in Meath received under €18m to develop facilities around the county. However, a breakdown of these figures on a per capita basis indicated that Meath received the lowest funding per capita in the country at just €110 per head of population compared to over €204 per head in Kerry, €201 in Donegal and €187 for Waterford over the same period. "Interestingly, the last three Ministers for Sport were from these three counties," said Senator Hannigan. He said the scheme was an excellent one, which assisted GAA, soccer, rugby, tennis, athletics, shooting, boxing and swimming clubs in Meath in 2008 alone to develop new facilities and upgrade existing ones for the benefits of their members and local communities. "While the scheme is to be welcomed, it is important to recognise the work and contribution of committee members and volunteers in sports organisations across Meath, who, through their hard work, bring these projects to fruition. While the grants are significant, it is estimated that for every €1 provided by the state, that up to €3 is matched by local funding. In these times of economic difficulty, we should not underestimate the role of sport in promoting the health and wellbeing of young and old alike and in providing alternatives and, at times, a welcome distraction from the doom and gloom." He said the scheme is currently closed, but the minister had indicated that there is there was a fund of €48m allocated in 2010 and he called on the minister to re-open the scheme as soon as possible. "I would also call on the minister to ensure that there is a fairer distribution of funds to sporting organisations in counties like Meath which have got a raw deal in the last 10 years," he added. "Meath sportspeople and Meath teams have proven themselves and have never needed special treatment to be successful. Likewise, we are not looking for favours in the distribution of grants, just a level playing pitch for sporting organisations in Meath," said Senator Hannigan.