asked the Minister for Education whether he is aware that the school at Parteen, Limerick, is being carried on since July, 1927, in a temporary hut in unsuitable and insanitary surroundings detrimental alike to the health of pupils and teachers; if he will state what steps his Department has taken to see that the school house and teachers' residence demolished in the course of the Shannon Scheme operations is replaced by a suitable permanent structure.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - School Accommodation at Parteen.
The Parteen school is at present conducted in a temporary building consisting of two rooms, which afford standard accommodation for 145 children. The average attendance of pupils is between 80 and 90 units. The rooms are well lighted and ventilated, and there is a heating stove in each room.
From the information at my disposal the surroundings cannot be said to be unsuitable or insanitary. The building, which is on a raised foundation of concrete, stands in a field on ground of a higher level than the surrounding land, and there is a raised pathway from the public road.
Sites for new schools are provided by the applicants for grants for building. My Department has been in communication with the manager in this case with regard to proposals made by him for the choice of a plot for the erection of a school, but so far a suitable site has not been procured. This issue is still engaging attention.
The teachers, who had occupied residential quarters in the old school building, the removal of which was necessitated by the Shannon Scheme works, have, I am advised, been offered compensation for disturbance.
The provision of a new residence is a matter for the local parties. It is not open to my Department in existing conditions to grant aid towards the cost of erecting teachers' residences, and I am not at the moment in a position to hold out any hope that a special grant may be made for the purpose in this instance.
Mr. O'Connell
Is the Minister in a position to say when a permanent structure will replace the present temporary one which, in spite of the description the Minister gave, he knows is only a temporary and unsuitable one?
I am quite aware that it is only temporary, but, as the Deputy knows, there is a difficulty about a site. A few sites were offered for our inspection, but none was quite suitable. We are in communication with the manager and shall write to him again to see whether he is now in a position to offer a more suitable site.