Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 20 Nov 2001

Vol. 544 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - School Accommodation.

Mr. T. Hayes:

I thank the Chair for selecting the important matter of Ballyclerihan national school on the Adjournment. I thank the Minister of State, who as a neighbour would have a great knowledge of my constituency, for coming in to reply to this matter and I hope, to deliver good news.

Ballyclerihan is a village within six miles of the larger town of Clonmel and has grown in recent years. Recently, South Tipperary County Council carried out a draft development plan and there are major proposals to develop the village in coming years. A lot of land has been rezoned and there is much excitement about the possibility of developing the village of Clerihan, as we refer to it in County Tipperary.

There is a real problem in terms of some of the infrastructure in the village. I want to refer, in particular, to the local national school which applied for an allocation of two rooms in 1999 and on which some progress was being made. The school was aware that the inspector for the area supported the application. While it initially received a positive response from it, recently there has been a total change in attitude on the part of the Department and the school is concerned that its application has been put on hold. That is the reason I tabled this matter on the Adjournment.

What is the exact position? The need of the school is great. It is currently using a room in the local parish hall. Children have to cross a dangerous road, between Clonmel and Cashel, to get from one part of the school to the other. This is totally unacceptable to the teaching staff and the children attending the school.

I hope the Minister of State will give me a positive response to this request. He was a good friend to County Tipperary in the past.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Mr. O'Dea):

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter concerning the provision of an extension for St. Michael's national school, Ballyclerihan.

Currently the school has a staffing level of a principal, three mainstream classroom teachers, a shared remedial teacher and a shared resource teacher based in the school. The school's enrolment as at 30 September 2000 was 114 pupils. Its present facilities consist of three permanent classrooms and limited ancillary accommodation. The Department of Education and Science has received an application from the management authorities of the school for an extension consisting of two classrooms, a general purpose room and appropriate ancillary accommodation.

The Deputy will appreciate that there has been a massive and unprecedented increase in the funds allocated by the Government to the building programmes at all levels. The allocation in the current year is £370.5 million, almost four times the allocation made by the previous Government in 1997. This level of funding has enabled the Department to undertake a record number of building projects, and it is our intention to continue this rate of progress in overcoming the deficit arising from many past years and in meeting the needs of the present day. Decisions relating to the rate of progress of individual projects, including the one at Ballyclerihan, will be taken as in previous years in the light of the allocations to be made for school building purposes at the conclusion of the forthcoming budgetary process.

I have some personal knowledge of the situation mentioned by the Deputy. I am aware that the area has been rezoned and is earmarked for rapid expansion. I will certainly bring the Deputy's concerns to the attention of the appropriate staff in the Department and also directly to the attention of the Minister tomorrow.

Mr. Ring:

I thank the Chair for selecting this matter on the Adjournment. The Minister of State may not need to get up on his feet again. He could give the same answer to me by simply changing the name of the school. I have been listening to that type of answer for the past 12 months by way of Dáil replies. The replies from the Department to parliamentary questions are outrageous. The Minister of State, who has been very vocal on both sides of the House, should direct his Department to give answers to the questions asked, regardless of whether they are good or bad. We do not want the political jargon and the spin. The way they spell it out reminds me of a race meeting. There is no thought given to replies in the Department, and it will not even answer a letter. That is not right and the Minister of State should deal with the matter.

I came here tonight to speak about Ardagh national school, which applied for funding for renovation and development works in June 1999. Two and a half years later, nothing has happened and the condition of the school has deteriorated even further in that time. The school includes a prefab which is over 17 years old and has no toilets or running water. It is understood that prefabs of this age contain asbestos. Children must cross the yard from one part of the school to another in all types of weather to use the public toilets. That is not right.

This is the year 2001, not 1901. The staff of the school have worked very hard. The principal, Noreen Moore, and the chairman of the board, Archdeacon Francis Lynn, have worked under difficult circumstances. This is a three teacher school. It has a resource teacher and a learning support teacher, as well as a part-time secretary.

The conditions in the school are unacceptable. I ask the Minister of State to sanction funding for the works at the school, which were at tender stage. The school expected the announcement to be made earlier this year or in June, July, August or September. They thought they would be in the new school by Christmas, but that has not happened.

I am aware there have been major cutbacks in the Department, one of the main losers in terms of the cutbacks. It must have engaged in overspending. From the reply I got from the Department last week, it appears the money has been spent on spin doctors and programme managers, not on schools. It is wrong that the children and staff in this school have to work in such terrible conditions. I appeal to the Minister of State to do the decent thing and sanction this extension immediately for the sake of the children, the principal, Noreen Moore, the chairman of the board, Archdeacon Francis Lynn, and the staff. Every day Councillor Eddie Staunton telephones me to ask what is happening.

For the past four to five years Ministers have been asking for projects on which to spend money. This school has worked under difficult circumstances and I ask the Minister of State to approve this funding.

Mr. O'Dea:

I regret the confrontational approach adopted by the Deputy. If he wants to bring specific instances of letters not being answered by my Department to my attention, I will certainly deal with them.

Mr. Ring:

I will be delighted to do so.

Mr. O'Dea:

Currently the school has a staffing level of one principal, two mainstream class teachers, a shared remedial and shared resource teacher. The enrolment at 30 September 2001 was 61 pupils. The school's present facilities consist of two permanent classrooms and one temporary classroom.

My Department has received an application from the management authorities in the school for grant assistance towards the provision of improved classroom accommodation and ancillary accommodation. My Department is awaiting the submission of tender documents for the proposed project.

The Deputy will appreciate the massive increase in funds spent on school projects by the Government, which this year is four times the amount spent by the Deputy's party when in government in 1997.

Mr. Ring:

There is the spin.

Mr. O'Donoghue:

It is the truth.

Acting Chairman:

Please allow the Minister of State to reply.

Mr. O'Dea:

That is a fact. The Deputy may not like it, but it is a fact.

Mr. Ring:

How can this rural school, with three teachers—

Mr. O'Dea:

The Deputy does not want to hear the facts.

Mr. Ring:

I will not take the spin.

Mr. O'Dea:

The Deputy is just looking for attention. Mock indignation.

Mr. Ring:

These children have no toilets.

Mr. O'Dea:

Decisions on this school, like every other school in the country, will be taken at the conclusion of the current budgetary process.

Mr. Ring:

Tell me about the cutbacks.

Mr. O'Dea:

That is the answer we are giving to all Deputies, and Deputy Ring will have to be satisfied with it. We should have less mock indignation from him.

Mr. Ring:

Will the Minister of State sanction the extension? His Department spends more money on spin doctors and programme managers. He should be ashamed.

Mr. O'Dea:

The Deputy should state his case calmly and stop playing to the gallery.

Mr. Ring:

The Minister of State should go back to Limerick.

Mr. O'Dea:

The Deputy is playing to the gallery.