Permission has been given to Deputy T. Fitzpatrick to raise on the Adjournment the question of the dangerous condition of Drung national school. We are awaiting the arrival of the Minister for Education.
Adjournment Debate. - Drung (Cavan) National School.
Tá mí-ádh ar an scoil seo.
Tá an tAire ag teacht.
I hope it will not be a repeat of last Sunday's performance.
In case I am involved? The Deputy can talk about anything but that.
I thank the Chair for affording me the opportunity to raise this matter which is a very important one for the area concerned. I thank the Minister of State for coming in to deal with it and I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his appointment. This is his first official duty in the House.
Drung national school is situated about midway between the towns of Cavan and Cootehill. There are 92 pupils on the roll at present. The building is a pre-fabricated structure which is in a deplorable state. It is positively dangerous for the pupils as I will prove.
As far back as the sixties the need for a new school in this area was conceded as being extremely urgent. In March 1969 the present pre-fabricated structure was declared open. After a few years this structure began to show signs of wearing down and giving trouble. In May 1980 the Department recognised that the only way to solve this problem was to build a conventional type school there. In 1980 approval was given in principle for a new school in Drung but the road has been both rocky and difficult for the committee of management.
The committee of management have behaved impeccably all along and have done everything required of them in the manner in which it should have been done. They got approval from the Office of Public Works for a site which was available. They set about acquiring the site but ran into legal difficulties which took some time to sort out. When the legal difficulties were dealt with they applied for planning permission. The planning permission was refused by the county council and on the advice of the Office of Public Works the committee appealed that decision. An Bord Pleanála upheld the decision of the county council and the refusal was confirmed. The management committee, again acting on the advice of the Office of Public Works, proceeded to acquire a new site. Again it took some time to deal with the formalities and on this occasion planning permission was granted.
In the meantime the pre-fabricated schoolrooms had deteriorated further and a parents committee did everything they could to encourage and expedite the building of a new school. In the years between 1980 and 1984 the prefabricated building had become extremely unsuitable as a school. I can summarise it by saying that the structure was attacked by the rains from overhead and the rats from beneath. It had become a rat infested building to such an extent that the teachers could not leave any thing edible or destructible in the building overnight and had to take such things home. The parents' committee and the board of management did everything they could to get the matter expedited in the Department of Education and the Board of Works.
The matter was raised here by the present Minister for Communications, Deputy Wilson, on the Adjournment of this House on 30 October 1986. As I want to give some of my time to Deputy Boylan, I will not take up the time of the House, by reading the account of that Adjournment debate, but let me give credit to Deputy Wilson and say that he made a very strong case, having visited the school and seen for himself. The then Minister of State at the Department of Education was Deputy Enda Kenny, and when Deputy Wilson concluded his case Deputy Kenny said, as reported at column 1132 of the Official Report:
I want to say to Deputy Wilson and to the Ceann Comhairle that I am very sympathetic to the plea of building the new national school at Drung as soon as is humanly possible. The very poor accommodation there has been adequately documented and certainly gives rise to justified fears and concerns on the part of the parents.
Subsequent to that Deputy Kenny met a deputation after which he acted and acted quickly. Tenders were invited in December 1986 and the closing date for receiving them was 31 January 1987. Tenders came in and I understand that satisfactory tenders are available but no satisfactory evidence has been produced to the people of the locality who are so concerned that the building will start.
Since then two extraordinary things have happened. An accidental fire occurred in the school about a month ago. I am told it was caused by a faulty electrical wire or switch and that the down rain had something to do with the igniting of the wire which caused the fire. Happily, no personal injuries were caused, but great general injury or even death could have been caused. In desperation since then the parents' committee have withdrawn their children, not fully but for three days each week for the past two weeks. Deputy Wilson said he does not approve of strikes in schools. I do not approve of strikes at all but schools are the last places where strikes should take place. Those two extraordinary things have happened since this matter was raised previously.
I wrote to the Minister for Education not very long ago. When I heard about this fire I was approached and I wrote to the Minister on 25 March acquainting her of the position and asking her for an assurance that the building would go on. I regret to say that I did not get an acknowledgment. I am sure she has been quite busy, but this is an urgent and important matter. Now I want the Minister of State at the Department of Education to tell me that he has already accepted a tender and is entering into a contract. If he cannot tell me that, I want him to give an assurance that that will be done immediately. Since the budget came in and with all the talk about further cutbacks of millions of pounds in the Department of Education the parents in this locality are very worried and annoyed. They are entitled to have the matter clarified before the Easter recess. That is what I want the Minister to do today.
Deputy Boylan will have five or six minutes.
I join with my colleague here in thanking you, Sir, for giving us the opportunity to raise this very serious problem in the House, and I thank the Minister of State for coming in here to listen to our case. Starting out as a new Deputy I do not intend to raise trivial matters in the House, but this is a serious matter that will have to be dealt with immediately.
We have a school of 97 children and the parents are concerned. This is a rural community who are seeking nothing more or less than their rights. They have acted with great responsibility and restraint. This has been an ongoing saga for the past nine years. We have a school that is totally unsuitable healthwise. I believe that if a health inspector called out to this school it would be condemned as unsuitable for human habitation. There is no question about that because, as Deputy Fitzpatrick has pointed out rightly, the rains pour in. There was a time when a few basins around the schoolrooms caught the rain water. That does not happen anymore. Rats have invaded the place and I am not exaggerating when I say that the parents of some of the children suggested that cats be brought in to keep the rats away. When this was done, believe it or not, the cats ran away with fear because the rats are as large as the cats. Those are facts which are hard to believe in 1987.
For that reason the parents have decided on a course of action that they do not want to pursue, of taking their children out of that school on three days a week. This is the parents' last resort. I want to make it clear that the teachers are in attendance on the five days. Every other effort has failed. The parents have written and sought that deputations be received. They want Deputy Fitzpatrick and me to bring away from here today a clear message from the Minister that a tender has been accepted and that work will commence. If they can be guaranteed that work will start on the new school immediately those children will be sent back and will put up with those conditions for a further six or eight months. However, those parents believe that if the matter drags on and work does not start soon, we will be into a further winter of annoyance and nuisance and a school that cannot be properly heated under those conditions. That is why I felt it important to stay here this evening to put this matter before the House.
Again, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity and I beg the Minister not to put the matter on the long finger any more. It has been there for long enough. The parents and teachers are concerned. They are a community seeking nothing more nor less than their rights. I hope the Minister of State will have a good message for us to bring back to the people of Drung this evening.
I join with Deputies Fitzpatrick and Boylan in congratulating the Minister of State and I ask him now to reply to the case as presented by the two Deputies.
I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick, Deputy Boylan and you, Sir, for your good wishes and I hope that I can perform as well in this task as my predecessors have done, including your good self. I would be happy with my performance if it should be like that.
I am fully aware of the serious situation that exists with regard to Drung national school and I would like to thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for bringing it to the attention of the House. There is a long history with regard to this school commencing with the formal application for grant aid for the erection of a new three-teacher school building at Drung, County Cavan, which came to my Department in May 1980. In October of that year my colleague, Deputy Wilson, then Minister for Education, gave approval in principle to the chairman for the replacement of the existing prefabricated classrooms. The question arose, however, of the provision by the school authorities of a site for the new building. The school authorities had indicated that a site was available and this was subsequently inspected by the Commissioners of Public Works who indicated that a plot of about three acres was on offer from the school authorities, of which one and a half acres could be made available for school use. Towards the end of 1981 a specific one and a half acre portion of the three acre field was chosen as suitable for school building and the preparation of preliminary drawings was commenced by the commissioners' architectural staff.
Meanwhile it was necessary for my Department to enter into correspondence with the school authorities to establish that the title to the site for the proposed new school was satisfactory. This was done early in 1982. It transpired in July 1982 that the title furnished was not satisfactory and correspondence between the solicitors concerned ensued. It was not until November 1982 that my Department received a certificate from the Chief State Solicitor that the title question had been satisfactorily resolved and this opened the way for the further stages of architectural planning under the rules for national schools to be put in train.
My Department then wrote to the school chairman indicating their approval for the sketch plans for the projected new school and furnishing cost estimates with a view to reaching agreement on a satisfactory level of local contribution. Agreement on the local contribution issue was reached by December 1982, when my Department formally sanctioned a grant for the project.
On my Department's instruction, the Commissioners of Public Works then commenced the planning of the project in detail. During the course of 1983, however, the commissioners reported that difficulties had been encountered by the school authorities in relation to local authority planning permission and these difficulties came to a head in November 1984 when the commissioners reported to my Department that a fresh site had had to be chosen. That, in turn, necessitated a fresh title investigation by the Chief State Solicitor. My Department in October, 1984, were advised by the Chief State Solicitor that he had received sufficient assurances as to the title to the new site. This, again, opened the way for the architectural planning process on the main school project to be resumed.
Meanwhile, my Department, in response to reports on the condition of the existing school building, indicated to the school authorities that they were prepared to sanction a substantial grant towards the replacement of some of the prefabricated classrooms pending the construction of the new school. In the event, this offer was declined and the school indicated that it would prefer to make do with the improvement of the existing accommodation. My Department subsequently sanctioned a fresh grant for improvements and some work has been done in that regard. It is, of course, accepted that the school agreed to this measure in the interests of saving what they considered to be necessary expenditure and of expediting the allocation of capital for the new school project.
The new school project has now reached the stage where tenders have been invited and received in the Department. The examination of the tenders is proceeding satisfactorily and I have asked that the examination be concluded at the earliest possible date. I might add that there had been some delay with regard to the examination of tenders because of the fact that some tenders had been found not to be satisfactory. The local contribution will then be collected from the school authorities and arrangements will be made for the placing of a contract.
All those delays which took place between 1980 and the end of 1986 were not caused by the Department of Education. It is clear from what I have said that many of those delays were as a result of difficulties with regard to the site to be used, with regard to the title to the site and planning permission for the site. A number of changes has been necessary and, consequently, that has caused the delay which we all accept has been far too long. However, I would emphasise that those delays were mainly due to site difficulties.
With regard to the question of the recent fire raised by Deputy Fitzpatrick, my Department were not formally notified of the recent fire at the school. However, my Department's officials have been recently in communication with the chairman of the Board of Management concerning the fire and he has informed them that, having got the services of the fire officer and a qualified electrician, he is now satisfied that the electrical system at the school is satisfactory. I hope the parents will see fit to have the children in school on a full time basis. The chairman informs us that he has also had repairs carried out to the roof of the school building. Notwithstanding that I have given instructions that a technical officer of my Department should visit the school without delay and report on its present condition and I will communicate with the Deputy when his report is to hand.
I accept that a delay has been caused but I am quite satisfied that there has been no delay since the deputation met with my predecessor, Deputy Kenny. Tenders were sought immediately. They were requested to be returned in the minimum possible time. Consideration of those tenders has received the full attention of the officers concerned in my Department. Examination of the tenders is proceeding with the utmost urgency and we hope to have that examination concluded at the earliest possible date.
Will the Minister agree that in regard to the fire it is a case of once bitten, twice shy? Will he agree it would be difficult to persuade the parents to run the risk in the school having regard to that fire? Does the Minister also appreciate that the local contribution is available and can be sent immediately he says he wants it? Will he give the same assurance regarding the balance of the money? Can he tell the parents of Drung that the money necessary to build the school, over and above the local contribution, is available in his Department and that the contracts will be checked? This is going on now since 1 February. Will he put a date on it? Above all, will he give an assurance that the money is there and that there is no question of putting the matter on the long finger?
I can assure Deputy Fitzpatrick that the money is there to commence the project just as soon as consideration of the tenders has been concluded. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that at such a vital time, when consideration of the tenders is having final attention, it is absolutely important that this job be done properly. Progress is not at all slow, seeing that the tenders have been in the Department for little over a month. There have been difficulties, in that some of the first tenders which would have got the job did not meet the Department's requirements. The Deputy will appreciate that it would be foolhardy of the Department and would be probably the cause of much more serious delays were we to take any snap decisions which would cause this project to be delayed during the construction stages. It is vital that we have a careful examination of those tenders and when we make our final decision, which I can safely say will be in the very near future, that we will make the correct decision. The officials are proceeding with consideration of the tenders as a matter of urgency. I cannot give an exact date, but certainly would hope that in the near future we would be able to proceed with the placing of a contract. I want to reassure the Deputies concerned that the money has been made available by my Government so that this project can commence.
Are we talking about weeks or months?
A very short question.
Is the Minister aware that the parents believe that one tender is quite acceptable, correct and in order in every way? There may be a toying around with other tenders, but will the Minister accept a tender that is in order and get the building started?
As the Deputy well knows, the procedure is that the lowest tender must be examined and if that is not found to be suitable then the Department officials must proceed to the next tender and so on. That is a job which involves the examination of each tender. It must be done carefully because if any mistakes are made at this stage there can be serious delays.
We still have a telephone service in the neighbourhood.
An Leas-Ceann Comhairle
Scholastic considerations have been adequately dealt with.
Is it weeks or months?
Very shortly.
The Minister has not put a date on it.
The Dail adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 28 April 1987.