Deputy Joe Sherlock gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter as to the delay in approving the plans which have been submitted for the Patrician Academy in Mallow and the future plans for second level education in that town.
Adjournment Debate. - Mallow, Cork, School.
If the matter was not so urgent we might have waited for the Minister to play around with the issue as she has been doing for some time. Mallow Urban District Council, who are the local authority concerned, the parents' association of the Patrician Academy, the staff association and the management of the school all regard this as the most urgent matter in the area but it has dragged on for a long time.
In 1983 development plans were prepared for the reconstruction and extension of the Patrician Academy in Mallow. From 1983 to 1987 the plans went through all stages and in 1988 the scheme was ready to go to tender on the advice that was given at the time and there was no reason to question that. Contract documents were completed and in 1989 the Minister received a deputation organised by her own party. An announcement was made to the effect that the issue had been given priority for sanction in 1990.
The conditions prevailing at the school are by no means conducive to learning. The building itself is dilapidated. The prefabricateds are totally inadequate and at one time it was agreed that the whole place was a fire hazard. In 1983 there were 350 students attending the school. By 1989 that figure had increased to 480 and it is likely to increase further as the numbers attending primary school in Mallow have increased and the projections are that they, too, will increase further.
The cost of the project is £1.3 million and the local community guaranteed their commitment to 10 per cent of that. Out of the Department budget of £18.5 million for capital projects in 1990 surely Mallow is entitled to its fair share after all these years. Education, particularly of a technical nature, is very important to industrial development. In this context, it is worth noting that during the week Mitsumi Electric Ltd. of Tokyo, a £500 million company and one of the world's leading producers of electronic components, announced they were to invest £3.8 million jointly with the IDA in establishing a manufacturing operation in Mallow. The company will produce keyboard remote control devices and other electronic components for their European customers. The main point to be made here is that both the Patrician Academy and the Davis College in Mallow are at present conducting courses in applied technology in an effort to meet the growing needs of the area in this field.
Therefore, I appeal to the Minister on behalf of the community in Mallow, first to approve the long awaited development of proper and adequate accommodation at the academy and, second, to lay down a policy for future development of second and probably third level education for Mallow and its very large hinterland.
I ask your permission, Sir, to give Deputy Michael Ahern and Deputy Bradford a minute each. We have time to spare now anyway. Is that in order?
Agreed.
I thank the Minister for her generosity in allowing me a little of her time tonight. I can only appeal to her to grant the same sort of generosity to the parents, pupils and teachers of the Patrician Academy who at this stage are crying out for long awaited action. As a past pupil of the academy I feel very concerned about my old school. I recall that even in my latter days there was talk within the school about major development which it was hoped would come about by the mid-eighties. Unfortunately, the mid-eighties and the late eighties have come and gone and we still await the development. I can state without any doubt whatsoever that the conditions in the school are appalling and, as Deputy Sherlock said, are not conducive to learning in the nineties. At this stage the Minister cannot but be fully aware of the case. All Deputies from the Cork-east constituency have kept her fully informed of the situation there over the past number of years. I appeal to her to act on the matter if at all possible in the very near future. The time for talk is over. We need action. We need a decision by the Minister's Department to allow this badly needed extension to be proceeded with. I appeal to the Minister to send us home with some good news at this hour of the night.
I, too, thank the Minister for giving me some of her time. Let me join the other Deputies in saying that the conditions in the Patrician Academy in Mallow are among the worst I or anybody in my constituency has seen. I know the Minister is aware of the problems in the school and is looking with favour on the Patrician Academy as she has done in the case of other schools in the area and the constituency. I am happy at what she has done for those other schools and I hope that in the not too distant future she will do likewise for the school in question.
I thank the Deputies who have spoken in this debate, Deputies Sherlock, Bradford and Michael Ahern. I am grateful to them for raising the issue and I appreciate their concern about the provision of proper post-primary facilities in Mallow. I am only saying what people know already, but there are three post-primary schools in the area. Two of the schools have had considerable capital expended on them and naturally the third school feels it should get the same treatment.
Having met a broadly based group last year I am aware that conditions in the school are far from ideal and I am conscious of the need for an early amelioration of those conditions. In common with all the second level school building projects in planning, the one for the Patrician Academy is currently being reviewed in the context of pupil enrolment for the short and the long term. Discussions on this matter were held quite recently with the school authorities.
As soon as the demographic review is completed a decision will be taken on the best course of action in regard to the proposed extension. In this way we will ensure that the interests of Mallow and the Department of Education are best served. Mallow will be provided with such additional post-primary facilities as are necessary and my Department will get value for money in respect of their investment in any future project.
I hope to meet a broadly based, representative deputation within the next two weeks to go through the issues which I have discussed here. For many years we thought that the numbers of children coming to school would continue to rise but this is not now the case. We have done a demographic review on a catchment by catchment area and the results are quite startling. I certainly do not intend to be hauled before a watchdog committee to be told that my Department are building schools for non-existent pupils. I want to make it clear that I am talking in general terms and not in relation to Mallow. We must look at every capital project in the light of what happened in the last five or six years in relation to births decreasing. In that context, we are examining every planned second level unit throughout the country. By the time I meet the deputation I hope that the review to which I referred will have been completed and that we will have a clear picture of the facilities needed for post-primary schools in the short, medium and long term in Mallow. I am aware of the conditions in that school, which are far from favourable.