I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter and I thank the Minister for coming to the House to reply. I take this opportunity to wish him well in his new position and to say that having known him for a long number of years and being aware of the mark he left on the Department of the Environment and Local Government I know he will do very well in it.
Scoil Mhuire, Moynalty, is a four room, three teacher school with 91 pupils. It was built in 1938 and a temporary pre-fabricated building was acquired in 1976. As a result of pressure of space, the children of Moynalty and the surrounding area are not receiving the education they are entitled to, staff spend their days in an unsafe workplace and parents have nowhere suitable to discuss relevant matters with them. Classrooms are undersized which inhibits the full implementation of the curriculum. The former girls' cloakroom has been converted to a room catering for learning support and resource teaching and staff and general purpose rooms are needed urgently. Toilets and washbasins are designed for older children and younger children have to use a chair to access basins to wash their hands. Concrete blocks are used to assist younger ones use the toilet while there are no toilets for disabled pupils.
In 2002 this already unsafe and dangerous premises faces even more pressure from an increasing population. The population in Moynalty is increasing in line with the trend across County Meath and several reports over the past number of years have agreed on the need for a new school. In 1998 an inspector's report stated "classrooms are undersized by present day standards, the school has no general purpose room or staff room, a factor which inhibits full implementation of the curriculum". A memo of the building unit of the Department of Education and Science said existing conditions were cramped, there was practically no storage or ancillary accommodation and that construction of a new school would provide the best value for money. The 2002 report of an acting chief fire officer states that classroom numbers represent a threat to fire safety and safe evacuation while a health and safety report, also from this year, recommends the provision of a new school as the only realistic option from an education and safety perspective.
I do not have to tell the Minister anything about Moynalty because over the last five years as Minister for the Environment and Local Government he had the great honour of presenting prizes there. He and his Department will not be found wanting in trying to resolve this problem. I thank him for coming into the House and I wish him well once again.
