asked the Minister for Education whether he is aware that the Bunnacurry Girls' School, Achill, Co. Mayo, is in a very bad state of repair; that for the past six months the pupils have been temporarily accommodated in the chapel attached to the local Franciscan Monastery; that representations have been repeatedly made by the manager to the Education Department and the Board of Works as to the necessity for executing the necessary repairs to this school, and whether he will state what steps are now being taken to provide the necessary accommodation for the pupils of this district during the coming winter.
CEISTEANNA.—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - CO. MAYO SCHOOL REPAIRS.
I am aware that the children in this case have been accommodated in the chapel of the Franciscan Monastery.
The building hitherto used as a school for the girls is too small for the number in attendance, and is structurally unsuitable.
The manager made application, towards the close of 1925, for a grant to enlarge the school building. As the school was non-vested, it was not possible to accede to his application.
The question of the vesting of the premises to admit of a grant for additional accommodation was, at the instance of the Department, investigated by the Board of Public Works; and in their report, of February of this year, a recommendation was made that the proper solution of the case was the erection of an entirely new school.
Forms of application for a grant for the erection of a new building were sent to the manager in the same month. On their return by him, the necessary inquiries preliminary to a decision to sanction the erection of a new school were made, and the manager was advised in July last that provisional sanction had been given for the erection of a new schoolhouse.
The question of the title to the site and of the estimated cost of the new building has been the subject of correspondence with the manager and Board of Works, and is at present under consideration.