This motion asks the Minister for Education to sanction and provide the necessary funds for the construction of a new national school at Cloontuskert, County Roscommon. The existing school facilities at Cloontuskert are totally inadequate. The whole community, including teachers, parents and pupils, has been pressing the case for a new school there for some time. I have been supporting their case for over three years and I wish to outline what has occurred to date. The local community has provided £17,000 from its own efforts for the purchase of a site. The local contribution amounted to £25,000. All that was raised by the local community in Cloontuskert. The community has done its part and has received planning permission from Roscommon County Council for a new school.
The problem is that the Minister for Education or the Department has not yet sanctioned funds to construct the school. The case for a new school is a good one. The existing school is totally inadequate. It has, in fact, been condemned by a number of bodies, including the Western Health Board, the fire officer of Roscommon County Council and the INTO representative. The INTO's representative indicated the school had possibly the worst conditions he had ever inspected. The children of Cloontuskert are not being taught in a dedicated school unit but in a building that was originally provided for shop units. Later on it was converted for use as a school, for which purpose it has been used every since. The classrooms are approximately two thirds of the size they should be. There is no hot water in the school, which has only outdoor toilets, and there is no green area for children to play in. The conditions at Cloontuskert national school are antediluvian and totally unacceptable in 1997. The Minister should provide the necessary funds this year for the construction of a new school.
Conditions at the school have received national attention. We had an open day recently to which all public representatives and the media were invited. The country at large saw the conditions under which pupils worked at Cloontuskert national school on a television programme. Everyone who saw the programme agreed the conditions were deplorable. Parents and teachers have now come to the end of their tether. I am told that in the near future children will be withdrawn from the school. The INTO has already balloted its members to take strike action, but that has been put in abeyance.
I am asking the Minister again to come to the assistance of parents, pupils and teachers at Cloontuskert national school. Surely in 1997 it is totally inappropriate that people should have to teach or be taught in such conditions. Two outside cubicles serve as toilet facilities for 60 pupils and teachers. That is not only out of date, it constitutes a health hazard.
I do not wish to go over the facts of the case again because enough has already been said. All the relevant authorities, including the health board, the county council and the INTO, have decided that the school is inappropriate. I have personally inspected the school premises and I was amazed that any teachers could attempt to educate in the conditions I saw there.
Hopefully, the Minister will have some good news that can be transmitted to the community at Cloontuskert so that they can in the near future have a proper facility for their children's education. I hope the Minister will say that money will be provided in 1997 for the construction of a new national school at Cloontuskert, County Roscommon.
