Adjournment Debate. - School Accommodation.
Mr. Deenihan: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter. There are 213 students attending St. Joseph's secondary school, Ballybunion, County Kerry. The numbers will increase as Ballybunion's population grows. The school has ten classrooms, six of which are partitioned. These are taken back for certain events, such as school mass and other assemblies. There are four corridors in the school, two of which are adequate. The other two are narrower, become congested easily and are not easily cleared. The principal and his staff are concerned that in the event of an emergency the school could not be cleared rapidly.
The classrooms are inadequate. The art room has one sink and a blackboard. The deputy principal's office is used as a learning support room. The guidance office is extremely small and adjacent to a classroom with no great privacy. There is no assembly hall, canteen, library or resource room, purpose built computer room, cloak or locker room, proper art room, intercom facilities, fire alarm, reception room for teachers to meet parents or students, work space for teachers as the staffroom is small and inadequate, and no indoor physical education facilities. Physical education takes place in a yard whose surface is unsuitable for any activity. The maintenance of the building is high and, because of the structure, is expensive to heat. It is exposed to the Atlantic winds directly off the ocean as it is on a cliff edge. There is no protection from the sea or gales, especially in winter.
The students have no recreational facilities. Almost 100 remain in classrooms for lunch. They have nowhere to circulate. They cannot leave the school in wet weather and so congregate in corridors and classrooms. This leads to difficulties. Occasionally furniture is damaged, such as partitions and desks. Only two rooms have solid walls. The rest have timber partitions. The principal is attempting to have the 23 galvanised panels replaced with PVC ones at £2,000 each. The floor tiles need replacing and dust extractors must be installed. Recently, some improvements took place, such as the provision of a new furnace, pipes renewed after corrosion, painting done internally and new furniture provided. These are minor and the school needs a major revamp, if not a new building.
A proposal to provide a general purpose room, a changing room, showers and a link corridor was ready to go to tender. However, the Mercy Sisters, who left the school, provided land for a larger extension and so the school authorities revised their proposals, deciding on an extension to include the proposed facilities. The application is with the Department since May 2000. Can the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, ensure that the application is dealt with as soon as possible? Last Monday evening, with my colleague, Senator Dan Kiely, I attended a meeting of the parents who requested that a deputation meet departmental officials as soon as possible to discuss the best arrangement for the school in the future, and whether that would include a new school on a green field site. I ask the Minister for Education and Science to facilitate this meeting as soon as possible. Senator Kiely has probably already been in contact about it.
All other schools in north Kerry have been either refurbished or new schools on green field sites have been provided. Ballybunion needs this school immediately. The school needs improvements. It is the only remaining town without a proper school. I appeal to the Minister for Education and Science to do something about it immediately.
I thank Deputy Deenihan for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the House the position regarding St. Joseph's secondary school, Ballybunnion.
St. Joseph's, which is co-educational, is a sole provider of post-primary education in Ballybunion. The nearest other post-primary centres to it are Causeway, Listowel and Tarbert. Pupil numbers in the school have been declining in recent years, from an enrolment of 245 pupils in September 1993 to a current enrolment of 216 pupils. The Department of Education and Science records indicate that the school was built to accommodate an enrolment in the region of 250 pupils.
An application from the school authorities for an extension, including a PE hall and additional specialist rooms, has been received in the planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Science. The school has also applied for the refurbishment of existing accommodation.
Before any works can be approved, it will be necessary to carry out a long-term enrolment projection for the school. This will involve a detailed analysis of previous enrolment patterns at the school, together with projected output from primary schools in the catchment area over the next eight years. Account will be taken also of other factors such as significant housing development, if any, which might impact on the school-going population in the area.
I assure the Deputy that the examination of this application will be completed by officials in the Department of Education and Science as soon as possible, and the outcome will be notified to the school authorities. I will also take on board the Deputy's request in regard to facilitation of an early meeting with the Minister on this subject.
