I want to thank the House for allowing this matter on the Adjournment this evening, and to thank the Minister for his presence. It is basically jumping from one level of education to another. I want to speak about a problem relating to the Leitrim national school, Loughrea, County Galway. This is a two-teacher school with 39 pupils attending. There is a history of problems concerning the school and the standard of the school for the past six or seven years. Back in 1973-74 there were amalgamation proposals to have Leitrim and the school in the other half of the parish, Kilcooley, amalgamated and there was a great deal of debate and discussion locally on that subject, I might point out for the record that the Leitrim part of the parish agreed to a central school being built but the Kilcooley people did not agree on that occasion because of the fact that they had a school which was in good condition. That meant, of course, when the amalgamation did not go through that the Leitrim national school found itself substandard and has been treated accordingly by the Department of Education for the past six or seven years. However, the school management board took the bull by the horns and they installed a well without any State assistance whatever at a cost to the parents and to the community generally of £1,000.
I should like to point out to the Minister that I am talking about a half parish that contained not more than 80 houses and until recently about half that number of houses were inhabited only by batchelors who had no interest whatever in the local national school. But times are changing and changing fairly dramatically in that area. There has been a fairly big population increase in recent times and there are new houses springing up all over that parish. We find that a great number of young people are settling down and getting married at an earlier age. There is a distinct air of confidence in that area at the moment, not alone in itself to be able to go out and do things for itself, but in the future of the area. It is an area of very small farmers and the valuations would not be more than about £15 on average poor law valuation. This is a community that believes that the national school where it is can be regarded as the heart-beat and the pulse of that particular parish. In the last 12 months it has had a stormy run in that it was the subject of a strike where the parents and the board of management saw fit to withhold their children from the school earlier this year because of inactivity on the part of the Department.
However, the Department did come across with a grant of two-thirds of the estimated cost of reconstruction. I want to go on record on behalf of the people of that area as saying that they are very appreciative of that grant. However, the catch was that the Department paid two-thirds and one-third had to be got locally, and in this case that one-third has been estimated to be worth £3,500. When you consider that the population base is so small it would mean that every family with school-going children would have to contribute over £100 if they were to be in a position to collect the one-third share. Of course this is impossible considering that they already had given £1,000 between them for the well three years before that.
I believe that this is a special case of hardship for this community. The board of management want the local contribution to be halved, in other words they want to be allowed to continue the building programme and have the facilities of a normal school for one-sixth of the total cost. What it means in financial terms is that we are asking the Department of Education to contribute about an extra £2,000. This is an investment of £50 or so for each school-going child as of now, not to mention the numbers that will pass through that school in the next ten years.
I want to say to the Minister that this parish is not looking for charity. We are looking for a contribution from the Government to fulfil a God-given right to education for the children of the area in their natural, much-loved environment. The school management board and the Reverend Manager are adamant that their stand is right, proper and just.
It has been reported before on several occasions that the Department in many cases where signs of financial hardship existed have reduced that one-third local contribution to one-sixth, and I understand there have been occasions where it has even been reduced to as little as one-ninth of the total cost. I understand that on occasions when financial hardship is proved it is possible to do that, and surely in the case of this school there should be no problem whatever in proving that there is a financial hardship.
It has been stated that the small, local school is important in the context of rural parishes in particular. It is important to acknowledge the contribution that small parishes like this will make to the future of this country and to the education of our young people at that level. The granting of an extra £2,000 or so is a very small drop in the ocean when one considers the overall expenditure of the Department. Above all else, the decision of the Department to pay this type of extra grant will adequately demonstrate to the people of Leitrim their importance and will show that their tremendous voluntary effort and contribution both in manpower and finance has been taken note of by the Department that counts, the Department of Education.
Whatever might have happened in that area in the last 12 months or in the last six months that strike should not be "kept in the nose" for the people of that area. They had their backs to the wall and, as they saw it, there was nothing else they could do. This is a brave attempt by the management committee, the reverend manager and the parents of the children involved to ensure that there is a reasonable school with all the necessary facilities that young children and teachers nowadays would want. There is no doubt that in the years to come the population in that parish will increase. We have figures to prove that at the moment. Therefore this is a reasonable request, a very fair request and I put it to the Minister so that on the eve of our departure from the House for our holidays we will have good news for the people of Leitrim, County Galway.
