I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I tabled a number of questions to the Minister on this school because it is a matter of grave urgency which needs to be rectified before September.
The school was built in 1958 but the rooms in it are too small. There are two rooms with four classes in each and it is easy to understand how overcrowding could occur. The concerns are ongoing and the matter has become urgent. The situation for the staff and pupils is becoming intolerable and parents are concerned at the overcrowding. These are essential and urgent requirements and I trust that by raising the issue again the Minister will see the urgency and give a positive reply. The Department of Education has the facts and figures and I have received correspondence in the last month regarding the school.
The school consists of two small rooms, six metres by five metres, and each caters for four classes. Currently it is a two teacher school and there are 44 pupils but by 1999 the number will increase to 66 pupils which will make it a three teacher school. There is no room for these pupils. The money involved in this exercise is not exorbitant, but it is urgent in view of the current overcrowding and timeframe involved.