I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, and the Minister for accepting this matter.
St. Patrick's boys' national school, Athy, has 206 pupils from second to sixth class. The board of management has a number of major problems at present, both structural and educational.
First, there is a need for urgent repairs to the basic facilities in the school that would permit the staff and pupils to have their basic needs addressed. At present an endless list of problems exists that make this school unacceptable, to all intents and purposes, as a proper place of education. These items include the need for door replacement, electrical work, roof repairs, refurbishment of toilets, replacement of windows, window blinds and so on. A number of the toilets do not work and the blinds are such that they cannot be operated. The list is endless in this regard and all of this must be addressed as a matter or urgency.
From an education point of view, the school does not have the same entitlement in regard to status as its fellow primary school in the town, scoil Mhichil Naofa or, indeed, St. Brigid's post-primary school. I would be very grateful for a breakdown of the entitlements at present afforded to scoil Mhichil Naofa in regard to special teaching staff, funding and support and for the same information on St. Brigid's post-primary school.
I would also be grateful for the Minister of State's comments in relation to the discrepancies vis-à-vis the three schools. What criteria has the Department of Education and Science regarding such matters in other locations where there is a similar pattern to Athy? Have all those schools equal opportunities regarding teaching staff, facilities and so on or is Athy unique in that one primary school and one secondary school have such facilities while a third school, the boys' primary school, is way down the list in terms of such facilities?
While one welcomes the facilities that scoil Mhichil Naofa and St. Brigid's have attained, I understand they are seeking further support mechanisms regarding teacher facilities and so on and for improvements to school infrastructure. I fully support their applications, just as I supported previous applications for other facilities.
Athy was designated RAPID status in the past year. However, there has been no progress in regard to assisting this school in obtaining parity with its sister schools in the town despite the fact that it involves the same catchment area, pupils and so on. This is discrimination by the Department. It is totally unacceptable and must be addressed by the Minister as a matter of urgency.
There has been a proposal to align St. Patrick's national school and scoil Mhichil Naofa. However, there is no possibility of this occurring due to the catch-22 situation faced by the board of management of St. Patrick's, whereby the basic facilities needed to provide for a co-educational situation for boys and girls, such as proper toilets and so on, are not available in the school. Due to the serious nature of the present position and the health problems this creates for the pupils and staff of the school, the problem in regard to the furniture must be addressed irrespective of the alignment proposal.
This situation can be resolved, given the determination of the staff, the board of management and the parents' council of the school. However, the Minister must play his part and provide the funding to refurbish the school and address the serious discrimination that exists between the schools by providing St. Patrick's with the necessary teaching and support staff to allow everyone to play a part in providing proper educational facilities at the school.
