I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise the following issue and I thank the Minister for attending. I congratulate him too on the success of the Luas and I hope he has good news for me just as he had for Senator Brian Hayes.
Some years ago, Ballaghlea national school near Ballygar in County Galway was keen to get an extra classroom. As a former Minister for Education the Minister for Transport appreciates that there have been long waiting lists to get simple items, such as a classroom, provided and built. The board of management made inquiries at the time and understood it would take five years to build a classroom. It then took matters into its own hands, organising table quizzes and getting local sponsorship.
Earlier today the question of sponsorship in education by Coca Cola and McDonald's was referred to. Such sponsorship was not available for Ballaghlea national school but the school got other local people to fundraise. On 21 June they had a double celebration at the opening of the classroom because they also got a green flag on that day.
I have been very interested in what is happening in education particularly regarding devolved grants and the pilot schemes we have seen countrywide. These have been very successful. Such grants date back perhaps to the early 1980s when former Ministers for Education, such as Gemma Hussey and Senator O'Rourke, were prepared to give some funding to schools. The Department of Education and Science should consider giving amounts of money by way of a devolved grant or a pilot scheme because a grant is due to this school. It is very deserving of what I call a retrospective grant because the work has been done. Great cost was involved but the project has not cost the Department one euro.
It is very important to recognise what the board of management of this school has done and its achievement in providing a beautiful classroom. The principal teacher explained on 21 June how they went about raising the funds and providing a classroom. I hope the Minister for Education and Science can explain to us what it will do to recognise this achievement.
