Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 10 Dec 1997

Vol. 484 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Shranamoragh (Mayo) School.

Mr. Ring

This has not been a good night in relation to closures and I hope the Minister can reverse that trend. I have been contacted by many parents in the Shranamoragh area near Ballycroy in County Mayo. Shranamoragh is a disadvantaged area which has a church and schools but no industry or employment.

It is a rural village which depends on the post office, the public house, the church and the school. I have received telephone calls from past pupils of the school in America and London asking that I and the other public representatives in the area ensure the school is not closed at Christmas.

The school principal has been appointed to be a remedial teacher in Achill. A temporary teacher has been appointed and negotiations have been taking place between the Department of Education and Science, the management board and the local priest. The parents concerned have contacted me because they do not wish the school to be closed. They believe it would be a retrograde step for the Ballycroy area.

The Minister and this Government gave major commitments before the election, some of which will be honoured in the new year. The Minister promised that no school would be closed and that any school with ten pupils or more would be allocated a second teacher. This school has 14 pupils. The Government also made major commitments to invest in rural areas and revitalise them. I do not intend to get annoyed with the Minister tonight because I hope this matter can be resolved now. If not, I will raise it again at a later stage.

I am due to attend a public meeting with the parents tomorrow night to which local representatives have been invited to hear their views. The parents who contacted me said they were opposed to the closure of the school. They want it to be left open and seek the appointment of a principal teacher. They also want the Minister, in his budget for 1998, to appoint a second teacher to the school. The reply I received from the Department last week was that the Department was conducting negotiations with the board of management and the local priest. However, the priest, who is a friend of mine, might only be in that parish for a few years before being moved to another parish. He will not be there forever unlike the parents and the local population. We are trying to entice young families to live in Ballycroy, particularly emigrants in England, and the closure of the national school in the area will send the wrong message to these people.

I ask the Minister to tell the board of management he will not close the school, to give a commitment that he will appoint a new principal and a second teacher in the new year and give this school the status it requires. It is important that Ballycroy does not lose this school. There is only a public house, post office and community hall in the area. There is no industry and the Garda station is manned only for an hour each day.

I hope the Minister will have good news. I do not doubt that when he gave commitments on rural schools before the election he intended to honour them. I hope this matter will be concluded and that we will not have to return to it again before Christmas.

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter because it gives me an opportunity to clarify the position of the school in question. Schools such as this are in difficulty with decreasing enrolments because of the failure of previous Ministers to utilise demographic dividends and to come to the assistance of small schools such as this through the appointment of a second teacher. It was when I, in Opposition, made an issue of one and two teacher schools that it was catapulted to the top of the political agenda. I brought a focus to their plight for the first time. The Government intends to deal with the issue in the context of the staffing schedule for the 1998-99 year, when there will be leeway in terms of resources.

This school is located about 12 miles north of Mulranny. It was built in 1962 at a time when there were 95 pupils on the roll. It became a one teacher school in 1987 and since then the enrolment has gradually declined to the point where there are 14 pupils enrolled in the current school year. There are now only six families with children attending the school.

Under the existing staffing schedule an enrolment of 14 pupils would entitle the school to a staffing of principal teacher only. The principal teacher of the school concerned recently resigned and has taken up a teaching position elsewhere. Pending examination of the future viability of the school, my Department has sanctioned the appointment of a replacement teacher, on a temporary basis, to replace the former principal. In the circumstances, and in view also of the steady decline in enrolments in recent years, it was considered appropriate to consider the longer term future of the school at this stage.

Following discussions and an in-depth evaluation, the chairperson of the board of management, the board and parents indicated to my Department that they were generally agreeable to the transfer of the pupils to another school in the parish. This agreement was subject to putting in place suitable transport for the pupils concerned. The chairperson of the board has provided a list of pupils who would be seeking transport to the other school.

The school transport section of my Department has been asked, as a matter of urgency, to report on the position of transport and the school authorities will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible. The crucial issue is to ensure that permanent arrangements are in place which will be agreeable to and in the best interests of the local community.

This Government will put in place a range of proposals which will support the position of small rural schools. I have already ensured that 24 two teacher schools, including five in Mayo, which were due to lose one of their teachers this September, as a result of the staffing schedule approved by the previous Government——

Mr. Ring

We did that the year before.

Mr. Martin

I am not talking about the year before. When I was appointed to this office 24 two teacher schools, five of them in Mayo, were about to lose a teacher. I intervened and secured additional posts——

Mr. Ring

The year before that I intervened and did the same.

Mr. Martin

That was a different year. This year nothing happened and these schools were about to lose a teacher. The Deputy should acknowledge that the Government moved within the available resources——

Mr. Ring

It did exactly what the Government had done the year before.

Mr. Martin

No. Why did it not move this year?

Mr. Ring

It was not in power then.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy must allow the Minister to continue without interruption.

Mr. Martin

It surprised me that the Deputy stood idly by while the previous Minister arranged staffing schedules which meant that five schools in Mayo would lose teachers.

Mr. Ring

That is incorrect.

Mr. Martin

That is the reality. I had to intervene and save the situation.

I am also examining proposals for implementing the Government's commitment to existing one teacher schools in the context of the staffing schedule for 1998-99.

Through the considerable expansion in the primary capital programme and our £50 million IT2000 programme we will also be investing in these schools. I am satisfied that over the course of our term of office, we will demonstrate an unequalled commitment to supporting and developing our rural schools.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 11 December 1997.