I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to hear about this important matter, the application of St. Kevin's primary school, Littleton, for disadvantaged status. My files indicate that this is the third occasion on which I have raised an issue concerning the school, although not specifically this matter, on the Adjournment. In the past I have raised the question of the need for sanction for refurbishment and extension of the school and other works. I am happy to say that the works in question have been sanctioned and are at design stage. They are linked to the need for the school to be granted disadvantaged status.
The Minister of State, Deputy Hanafin, who comes from north Tipperary maintains contact with the area through her family. Perhaps she is au fait with the situation in Littleton, which is near Thurles.
There are 143 children on the roll in Littleton national school. The economic and social background of the area can only be described as disadvantaged, mostly for historical reasons. There are 160 local authority houses in what is a small area where employment is concentrated in the large Bord na Móna factory, where employment opportunities have depleted. As in other areas, many of those who used to live in the local authority houses to which I have referred have bought their own homes. This means that the catchment area of the school is dominated by households which collectively are experiencing a number of problems.
I maintain considerable contact with the staff of the school, including the principal, the parents' council and the community in general. A huge amount of work is being done by the parents' council on behalf of the community and the school. While it is true that there are problems in the area, it would be unfair to label it as a prob lem area. The committee is doing its utmost to secure the necessary resources to solve the school's problems. It is unfortunate that it was not included in the announcement by the Minister in January of this year's programme for schools designated as disadvantaged. It was a bureaucratic problem of application forms and a questionnaire not reaching the Department in time. A bureaucratic error meant the school was not included. The application is one of a number being reviewed by the Department this month. That is the reason it is so urgent that the matter is attended to as soon as possible.
The school is rising to the problems and issues facing it. Over 50% of the 143 pupils on the roll come from households in public or voluntary housing, 16% come from traveller families who have their own special needs, while about 46% come from households where the head of the household is unemployed. The picture is clear. Barnardos is undertaking a project in the school based specifically on the identified needs of the children concerned.
It is a six teacher school and, apart from its immediate inclusion in the disadvantaged schools programme, its needs are to maintain the current mainstream teacher number of six, to have a full-time home-school-community liaison officer and to obtain additional funding. The school has been allocated a part-time learning resource teacher who is present in the school three and a half days each week. There is a need for a resource teacher both for children with special needs and for traveller children, of whom there are 23 on the rolls. This is, proportionately, much higher than average. There is also a need for special needs assistants.
The school has outlined its needs. Its major concern is that, refurbishment and extension having been sanctioned, the brief given to the architect is much less than what the school needs. The brief is for a six classroom school, but lack of space is a major problem. It is urgent that the school is granted disadvantaged status. This can then become part of a new brief for the extension and refurbishment of the school to ensure, for example, a parents' room is provided for with increased staff facilities. There is a need for an additional staff bathroom, additional car parking space, and additional space for resource teachers and special needs teachers.
I appeal to the Minister of State to listen to the needs of this community which does much to help itself. She should heed its call for inclusion of the school in the disadvantaged schools programme in order that the teachers concerned and the community as a whole obtain the resources they need to meet the special needs of the community. I make that plea in the hope of a positive response from the Minister of State.
