I thank the Cathaoirleach for affording me the opportunity to raise this issue and I thank the Minister for coming before the House to deal with it.
This matter involves the need for a permanent extension to the Holy Faith/De La Salle school, Skerries, and the provision of a sports hall. In that context, the board of management of the school, by means of a subcommittee of teachers, parents and members of the board, conducted a feasibility study which was presented to the Department of Education and Science. As a former member of the board of the school, I was recently surprised to discover that its student population has risen to 976 pupils. It must be remembered that the school was originally designed to cater for a maximum of 800 pupils.
For the benefit of the Minister, I wish to outline some of the main concerns of the teachers, students and parents involved with the school. The Holy Faith/De La Salle school has no sports hall despite the fact that physical education is compulsory and there are 616 students involved in extracurricular sporting activities, such as rugby, soccer, hockey, etc. Pupils are obliged to leave the school and travel one quarter of a mile to an all-weather facility. It is fortunate that this facility exists but students must still travel to reach it.
When I served as a member of the board, the school had a good library. However, due to the increase in the student population, this had to be subdivided to provide additional classrooms and there is now no library in the school as a result. The school has only one home economics kitchen, despite the fact that 16 different class groups take five to six lessons per week in home economics. Each day, at 40 minute intervals, the school's narrow corridors are filled with approximately 1,000 pupils which could lead to accidents, etc.
The school has no music room but, nevertheless, it has a great tradition in this subject. There is also a need to provide a science laboratory. On many occasions the Minister has spoken of the need to develop science in schools. Each week, 35 classes take lessons in science in ordinary classrooms. This is totally unacceptable. The school also has a tradition in the area of languages, particularly French and German. However, it does not have a specialised language room despite the fact that all 846 pupils study these two subjects. When I visited the school recently, a number of art lessons were being held in ordinary classrooms because there is only one specialised room available for this subject.
If the health and safety regulations were applied in respect of classrooms and rooms for teaching, office and caretaking staff, major problems would arise. The teachers' staff room has facilities for approximately 50 people but at different stages of the day it might be used by 80 people. If nothing else, this is unhygienic. There is a severe shortage of special tuition rooms, meeting rooms and store rooms. The only room available for teachers to meet parents to discuss matters of mutual concern measures eight feet by ten feet.
As stated earlier, this school was originally designed to cater for 800 students. The student population has increased so much that two prefabricated classrooms were put in place three years ago. By next September, six additional classrooms — be they prefabricated, semi-permanent or permanent — will have to be provided to meet enrolment projections. An inspector from the Department visited the school last year to examine the matter. His figures indicated there would be a 20 per cent shortfall in the capacity and room space which school enrolment would warrant.
We are coming to the crunch, the commitment by the Department that a schedule of accommodation would be provided to the school to enable it to move on to the next stage. Fingal, in the Dublin North constituency, is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. There is a great demand for housing and school accommodation. It is projected that 1,300 houses will be built in Skerries alone over the next eight years. The population of the school is 1,000 and this figure will not reduce in the medium term.
Will the Minister give the parents, teachers and board of management involved in the school a commitment that he is prepared to provide a permanent extension to the school and the promised schedule of accommodation and gymnasium will be provided as a matter of urgency? The provision of a sports hall runs in tandem with the Minister's idea that sports would be part of the school curriculum in the years to come.
