I thank Deputy O'Leary for his generous comments which I appreciate.
I am glad the Deputy has given me the opportunity to clarify the position in relation to Tulloha national school, Bonane, Kenmare, County Kerry. This is a two teacher school with 37 pupils presently on roll.
I assure the Deputy at the outset that my Department's officials are keenly aware that this school is seriously substandard and that as far back as 1985, it had been proposed to replace the existing school with a new school. However, the chairman of the board of management refused to offer a site as at the time he felt a new school was not required due to falling enrolments.
At the suggestion of my Department's schools' inspector the chairman again applied to the Department in June 1990 for grant-aid to carry out repairs to the roof and windows of this school building. The matter was referred to the Department's professional advisers for a report on the feasibility and cost of the proposed renovations. It was the opinion of my Department's professional advisers that it would be uneconomical to carry out any major repairs to the school due to its design and layout and that only minimum repairs should be carried out. On the basis of this report, it was felt by my Department that the best option would be a new school on a new site and the chairman was informed accordingly.
Nothing further was heard on this matter by my Department until January 1994 when the chairman again requested grant-aid for repairs to the school building. The case was again referred to my Department's professional advisers for an up-to-date report on the condition of the school building and to elicit funds for the minimum repairs which needed to be carried out. By this time the situation had become very urgent as the school's insurers had stated that liability cover on the premises would not be maintained on the school building from the beginning of the 1994-95 school year unless the defects in the school's playground, heating system and roof were attended to. My Department's professional advisers in their report last July again strongly recommended that the school be replaced and that only minimum repairs be carried out. I understand that the chairman has had some repair work carried out to the school and that his insurance company has given liability cover for this school year.
Having considered the report from my Department's technical advisers, the school's inspector was asked for a detailed report on the future enrolment trends at the school. This indicates that the school will remain a two teacher school for the next few years. On the basis of this report I have asked my Department's architect to prepare a comprehensive report on the existing school building and site and to consider the options of building a new school on the existing or new site.
Until this report has been received and considered in my Department a final decision on this matter cannot be made, but I assure the Deputy that I fully appreciate the school authorities' desire to have this matter resolved. My Department's officials assure me that every effort will be made to facilitate the school in this regard. Indeed every effort has been made since 1985 by my Department to provide a new school at Bonane, County Kerry. The best available advise has always stated that expending money on the existing school would not be an economic proposition and that a new school on the existing site or on a new site was the preferred and more economic option.
