asked the Minister for Education the cause of the delay in carrying out reconstruction of Keelogs national school, Inver, County Donegal.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Inver (Donegal) School.
56.
As I have stated on a number of occasions, it is my policy, in the educational interests of the children concerned, that smaller schools should, wherever feasible, be discontinued, and provision made for the pupils in larger schools to which they would be brought by transport services.
I am having investigations made as to whether this policy can be suitably implemented in the parish of Inver, County Donegal. The question of having a major scheme of improvements carried out at Keelogs national school depends on the outcome of those investigations.
I am endeavouring to have the matter brought to decision as soon as possible.
The Minister will recall he has made this answer to questions relative to schools in a very large number of areas in the country. With reference to Keelogs school, I agree with the Minister's policy, but how long does he consider the inquiry involved in the parish of Inver will postpone urgent and necessary repairs to the school?
I cannot say in this case if it will have that effect, but I can say that in many cases the result of what we are doing is that children will be accommodated in new, or reasonably new, buildings very much faster than they would otherwise, if we were not carrying out this policy. This arises because children may be carried by transport to a school which was built within the past few years within a few miles of their homes, whereas if we did not implement this policy, they would have to wait until a school was built in their own parish, which would take considerably longer. This, of course, is not the case in all instances, but the investigation concerned normally would not take more than three or four months, that is, from the time it starts to the time the decision is made. Naturally the whole country could not be dealt with in three or four months.
Where a school reaches a condition which constitutes a hazard to the children's health, the Minister can have them transported to a suitable school while this matter to which he has referred is under consideration, or, alternatively, he can decide to repair the school and put it into a condition in which it will not be a hazard to the children's health.
Where this is feasible, this is what we do. There is another possibility, that is, where children are conveyed to an existing school to which an addition would have to be made. In such a case we are making every effort to have the construction completed as soon as possible but we will do temporary repairs in the meantime.