I thank the Cathaoirleach for affording me the opportunity to highlight a problem in my native town, Castlepollard, County Westmeath. I also thank the many people from the town who have travelled here this evening to give me their support.
Cólaiste Cionn Torc, as it is now known, has served as the vocational school in Castlepollard for many years and up to 1981 it only catered for intermediate certificate students. However, following a request I made in 1982, Mr. Gerard Brady, a former Minister for Education with Castlepollard connections, upgraded the school to full leaving certificate status.
The school was built of mass concrete in 1937. Today, it comprises eight separate buildings which are spread over approximately two acres. Regardless of weather conditions, students are obliged to cross the yard to change classrooms and to use the toilets. There is no PE or assembly area or sports field. The catchment area for Castlepollard school covers national schools in the parishes of Castlepollard, Collinstown, Drumcree, Fore, Coole, Whitehall, Castletown-Finea, Boherquill and Crooked Wood. Westmeath County Council granted planning permission for 300 houses over the past year. Using that as an indicator, it reveals that growth in demand at student level is expected to increase by 25 to 30 per cent.
A total of 154 students from the north Westmeath area attend Castlepollard school. More than 100 adult education evening classes are held in the school. It has a full computer laboratory equipped with ISDN lines. The night classes are very successful and command a great attendance. Those classes are booked up beyond next September. A PLC course in business studies will commence in September and that course, which will be validated by the National Council for Vocational Awards, is almost booked up. Many married ladies who have reared their families and want to return to work gain necessary skills and confidence from these courses. Self-employed people, business people, members of the farming community and many young people working in the industrial sector, who want to update their skills and gain promotion, participate in these courses.
Castlepollard school is a vibrant institution that provides an excellent service to its local community. Having regard to the litany of developments on the school site over a period of decades, Castlepollard school has become a patchwork school. It has eight buildings spread over at least two acres of land. As we stand on the threshold of a new millennium, it is no longer acceptable that students should have to cross the school yard in rain and snow to change classrooms or use toilet facilities.
The Department of Education and Science is making arrangements to introduce physical education as a core curriculum subject. I thank the Minister, Deputy Martin, and his officials for deciding earlier this year that a fine and modern school building designed by Westmeath Vocational Education Committee would look completely cramped and out of place on a site of less than two acres. The Minister decided courageously to give the local Vocational Education Committee permission to investigate the possibility of purchasing a new green field site of seven acres or more, which would be sufficient not only for a school building but for adequate playing pitches and other facilities much needed and deserved in the Castlepollard area.
I thank Castlepollard hurling club for making the community centre and playing pitch available to the young girls who play camogie and the young boys who play hurling and football. This is the home of hurling in north Westmeath, having won the Leinster Championship on a few occasions with prominent teams such as Loughlane Gaels, Castlepollard, Ringtown and Brownstown. The great interest students attending Castlepollard school and its principal have in hurling have kept it alive in the area. I thank everyone concerned who made those facilities – which were not provided by the VEC – available to the students.
Following the Minister's decision, no time was wasted in locating seven excellent possible sites in the Castlepollard area. These sites were prioritised by the chief executive officer of Westmeath VEC and the building unit of the Minister's Department. An official from the Valuation Office visited the area on 30 April with a view to determining the criteria for the valuation of these sites. I understand the official concerned gave a firm commitment that this portion of his work would be completed by 15 May. When that report is returned to the Department of Education and Science, I hope no time will be wasted in allowing Westmeath VEC to proceed with the practical business of negotiating and finalising the purchase of the site.
I need not tell the Minister, who is well experienced in these matters, that realism must prevail. In today's booming economy property is not left on market long waiting for people to buy it and neither is it left long waiting for people to sell it at less than the market value.
This Administration, particularly the Minister's Department, has a proud record of breaking down traditional barriers in our society and tackling social exclusion in a real and meaningful way. If we are committed to that policy, we must be seen to break down the barriers to meaningful development in rural communities. It is well known that a sound education is the lasting fibre from which a strong nation and culture are built. In practice, this will mean showing a commitment to communities like Castlepollard and north Westmeath by providing the necessary social and economic infrastructure to allow development to happen.
The Minister does not need me to tell him the enormous difference a new school would make to the people of north Westmeath. I urge the him to instruct his officials to deal with this matter in a realistic and urgent fashion so that the people of this vibrant community in north Westmeath can look forward to an even more successful and vibrant future and that the post primary educational needs of their children will be met in a manner befitting the times in which we live.
I look forward to the Minister's reply. I thank him for coming to the House to reply to this matter. I thank Westmeath VEC for working so diligently and hard through the years. On behalf of the students, the VEC and its chief executive officer, I invite the Minister when the decision is taken to come to Castlepollard to cut the sod on what will be a historic occasion for the people of north Westmeath.
