To ask the Minister of Education for an update on capital works at Rosetta Primary School.

Mr Givan

The Education Authority has appointed an external architect-led design team to address the roofing issues at Rosetta Primary School. Additional toilet provision will also be included in the project. Extensive condition surveys have been undertaken, and the design team has provided an updated feasibility report. It is anticipated that business case development will begin this month. A timeline for the work will be determined when the business case has been completed and the preferred option identified. In a separate project, a planning application has been submitted for a bespoke stand-alone modular toilet block and storage provision at the school. A licence agreement is in place with the neighbouring church to enable the school to use the church hall, with the Education Authority covering the cost. A gate has also been established in the boundary wall to facilitate pupils' access to the church hall. Those measures will help mitigate the impact of the ongoing closure of the assembly hall on the pupils' education. The Education Authority continues to liaise closely with the school, and I can confirm that another meeting is scheduled for 7 May. This situation is, regrettably, another example of the consequences of underinvestment in the education estate. We have over 1,100 schools, many of which are aged buildings and in extremely poor condition. Years of limited budgets and underinvestment have forced the Department and the EA to focus on the most basic priority of keeping schools open and children safe. I remain committed to improving the condition of the schools estate, and I will continue to call for urgent cross-party support to secure the investment that is needed to ensure that every child in Northern Ireland is educated in a safe, modern and inclusive environment.

Mr Givan

Where we have prioritised health and safety, that is where the first call of funding has gone. We need to expedite all the processes: planning, the business case, feasibility and design. All that needs to get to the point where finance is the requirement. We are not at that stage. Let us — I have engaged on this and have encouraged the EA — expedite all the work that we are doing, because I want to get to a place where Members in the Assembly are able to say, "This is just subject to finance. We just need to get the funding". That allows me to look at the resources in my Department or to seek external support for that from the Department of Finance. Let us move through the process as efficiently as we can and then to the place where it is subject to finance. The fact that education has been underfunded and that our schools estate has a huge maintenance backlog has been well articulated by me in the Assembly. We need to see prioritisation afforded to Education when it comes to its allocation of the Budget.

Mr O'Toole

As Paula Bradshaw said, parents, pupils, the school community and teachers have not been able to use the hall at Rosetta for years. I live in the area, and I know how distressing and frustrating that is for the school community. You talked about the business case and the processes that are being worked through with the EA. Mr McGarrigle, the principal, has done a huge amount of work, but there has been frustration that they have had to chase and chivvy the EA. You talk about getting to a place where the final question is finance: can you and the EA give a commitment that, when you get to that stage, the finance will be found to reopen the Rosetta school hall and do the works necessary so that the school community can use the whole building?

Mr Givan

I visited the school at the Speaker's request. I have seen at first hand the challenges that it faces. I would love to be in a position to say that it is unique: unfortunately, it is not unique. There are a series of challenges reflected in many schools across the Province, and that is why I have made the case for funding to be provided. Let us get to the point where it is subject to funding, and then it becomes a different area where we need to seek the resource. Of course I want Rosetta Primary School to be given the funding to allow the works to take place to restore the facilities that it requires.

Mr Kingston

Can the Minister confirm the capital budget position for his Department for 2026-27?

Mr Givan

Obviously, a Budget has not been agreed. Indeed, version one of the Sinn Féin Budget was wholly inadequate for Education, and version two of the Sinn Féin Budget is wholly inadequate for Education, and that is why it will not get my support. Significant work needs to be carried out to get to a point where agreement can be reached. Ultimately, once a decision is taken on the Budget, that is the envelope of funding that I am left with. Members on the Benches opposite chastise me for not being able to invest in schools, and yet it is they who hold the purse strings. We will not be in a position to sign off on the Budget until it properly reflects the priority that Education ought to be afforded. When we get to that stage, hopefully we can make progress and invest in our school estate, because that is what we need to achieve.