Deputy Jimmy Deenihan has been given permission to raise on the Adjournment the question of the delay in the signing of the contract for Coolard national school.
Adjournment Debate. - Coolard (Kerry) National School.
I thank the Minister for her presence here tonight. I appreciate that she has a very busy schedule and I do not intend to keep her too long. I raised this matter in the Seanad early in 1986 and the project has come a long way since.
Coolard national school was built in 1886. It then comprised three classrooms, a store room and a toilet. The structure remained unaltered until 1982 apart from minor repairs which were carried out to the toilet in 1974. In the seventies Coolard was one of the four schools proposed for relocation in a central building. However, the move was resisted locally and the proposal was abandoned. In 1982 Tullamore national school, which is nearby, was amalgamated with Coolard national school. The existing store room was converted into a classroom to facilitate the extra numbers from Tullamore. At present there are 99 pupils on the roll. The numbers have more or less remained constant in the past three years and are likely to increase in the immediate years ahead.
Because of local initiative the building has been reasonably well maintained. However, the toilet, which is on the outside of the building, is in a deplorable condition. In 1958 it was condemned by the Department of Health and this is one of the reasons the school was not singled out for repair over the years. I am sure it was intended that the school would be abandoned.
The origins of the present proposals date back to 1983 when a deputation from the school met officials of the Department of Education and with the Minister of State at that time. Following discussions between the Department and the school authorities it was agreed that the existing buildings should be remodelled and extended to provide three classrooms and a general purposes area together with the usual ancillary facilities such as a staff room, a store room and a library cum medical room. A contribution was collected locally and was paid. Some of the parents who paid the contribution at the time will not enjoy the benefit of their money because their children have since left the school. However, I am sure the project will have their goodwill. It went to tender in 1986 and provision was made in the provisional estimates by the former Minister of State, Deputy Kenny, in January 1987. I am sure this provision still stands.
No doubt that helped the Deputy to get 9,000 No. 1 votes in the election.
Ten thousand. I understand there was a delay in signing the contract because of the problem in relation to the appointment of a clerk of works. The school authorities were anxious that the Department should pay for this and that view prevailed in the end. All that remains at present is for the contract to be signed as a contractor has been accepted by the Department and the school authorities. I appeal to the Minister to try to arrange this as soon as possible. The reason the school authorities are so anxious that work should start immediately is that they will be getting their holidays very soon. A large amount of the work involved will be carried out to the structure of the existing school and, as the Minister realises, if this work carries over into September, it will lead to the disruption of classes and so on. Now that the money is there and has only to be made available for the work, I would appreciate it if the Minister used her good offices to ensure that work starts as soon as possible.
I want to thank Deputy Deenihan for raising this matter again, even at this late hour. I am very glad to come into the House to give him an answer. I was interested to hear him say that the school was built in 1886. It coincides with one of the famous periods of Parnellite history in Ireland. The school is 101 years old and obviously is due for a major refurbishment. As the Deputy said, the extension proposed for Coolard includes the building of two new classrooms and the remodelling of two existing classrooms so as to provide one standard classroom and a general purposes area. Certain ancillary accommodation is also to be provided, namely, a teachers' room, a library-medical room and various stores. The Coolard project has a long history and I am sure nobody knows that better than Deputy Deenihan.
The Deputy spoke about the deputation which visited the Department in 1983. At that time they spoke about a new school building or a major remodelling of the existing building and finally the latter approach was agreed between the school authorities and my Department resulting in the engagement by the school of an architect in private practice so that he could submit detailed proposals and costings. As the Deputy may know, my Department approved the invitation of tenders for the project in June 1986 and a complete tender documentation was forwarded to my Department in February 1987 on behalf of the school authorities. Examination of these tender recommendations has since been completed in my Department.
In a Dáil question on 5 May or 6 May 1987 Deputy Deenihan asked when work would commence on the Coolard extension. I told him in a written reply that my Department have authorised the placing of the contract for the extension and would in the near future be writing formally to the chairman of the school's board of management in regard to the matter. I said then that I was not in a position to state when the actual construction, the digging and the building, would commence. I am glad to say we have the necessary arrangements in hand. I am unable to say precisely when the formal letter will issue but it will issue shortly. I assure the Deputy that when those arrangements have been finalised there will be no delay in advising the school authorities on the matter. I am loath to say when exactly a letter will issue in case it does not issue on that date and people will be disappointed. I am reasonably satisfied — I wish I could be as satisfied with the other 800 cases that are piled up on my desk — that within a very short period of time the steps I have outlined will be taken and the work can commence. I will be in communication with the Deputy quite soon, I hope, to let him know when a letter will issue.
I should like to thank the Minister for her reply and for her presence here tonight. I am sure her reply will come as very good news to the people in Coolard.
The Dáil adjourned at 11.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 10 June 1987.