I thank the Chair for allowing Deputy Penrose and me to raise this important issue. While I acknowledge that there is a Minister in the House, I am disappointed that the Minister for Education and Science is not present for the debate. It is a reflection on his commitment, not just to the school in question, but to all the schools around the country.
Coralstown national school, situated between Kinnegad and Mullingar on the N4, has an enrolment of 71 pupils and a staff allocation of three teachers. The original school, consisting of two classrooms, was built about 70 years ago. A prefabricated classroom was added at the back of the school about four years ago. The location of this school, within feet of the very busy N4, with up to 900 vehicles per hour passing at high speed, gives rise to the constant worry about an accident at school opening or closing time. Recently a car crashed into the boundary wall at the school and luckily this accident occurred out of school hours.
The school toilets are located in an annex at the back of the building and pupils must go outside in all weathers to get access to them. I visited the school yesterday and in the prevailing weather conditions a trip to the toilet and to the prefabricated classroom was not without its hazards, negotiating the weather and the floods around the school. The toilets are wet and damp and there is no running hot water. There is no staff room or toilet. The shared remedial and resource teachers attending the school must operate from a cold, damp cloakroom. The classrooms, while brightly painted and well kept, are overcrowded and unfit for modern teaching methods and requirements.
The teachers at this school are well known for the high standard of their teaching and their professionalism. They are forced to work in these dreadful conditions yet such is their reputation that students flock to be enrolled at the school. A new school was announced by a local Senator for the area in March 1998. He proudly announced that the school would be occupied in September 1999. A site was purchased and planning permission was obtained. Such is the motivation of parents in this locality that they have already collected £30,000 as their share of the costs.
Pupils in this school are not getting a fair crack of the whip. The teachers are asked to do a job without adequate facilities. Empty promises are not enough. I want a commitment from the Minister tonight that he will give immediate approval for this school to proceed and that it will be put in place in the minimum possible time.
