Gaelscoil de hÍde, which was established around 1985, has 146 pupils, who attend up to fourth class, and five teachers. The school is located in the old vocational school which is the property of Cork County Vocational Education Committee. This school is supported strongly by Cairde de hÍde, a local support group, who over the past number of years have raised somewhere between £25,000 and £30,000 for Gaelscoil de hÍde. The teachers in the school and the inspectors from the Department all agree that the vocational school is a suitable building for this school.
Everything was going fine for the school until last week when, at a meeting of Cork County Vocational Education Committee, which was held at Scoil Mhuire in Ballingeary, the CEO quoted from correspondence he had received from the Department of Education regarding the properties which are not being used by the VEC. That correspondence contained a directive to the CEO to dispose of these properties, including the old vocational school in Fermoy and the eight acres of land in Mallow. I will refer later to this land.
When I asked the CEO about the future of Gaelscoil de hÍde he said that it was a matter for the committee of Gaelscoil de hÍde and the Department of Education. I have been assured by the CEO that it is his intention to dispose of these properties and, as any capital works which need to be carried out by the VEC will have to be adjusted by any amounts paid by the Department, it is his intention to dispose of the school as a matter of priority.
I call on the Minister to purchase this premises from the VEC. This issue calls into question the overall promotion of the Irish language in our schools. The existing arrangements, management and State funding cannot keep pace with the demands of the increasing number of parents who wish to send their children to Irish speaking schools. Parents have experienced considerable delays in obtaining sanction for new Gaelscoileanna at primary level and there are even greater difficulties in regard to sanction for second level Gaelscoileanna. Because Gaelscoileanna are obliged to raise a quarter of their funding by way of local or so-called voluntary contributions, this creates particular difficulties for the development of these schools.
In a European context, there is a need for funding for recognised EC minority languages which would strengthen the position of Irish in our schools and the Community. Gaelscoileanna can help greatly in this regard. The enthusiasm of the parents of the children in this school has helped in no uncertain manner and they must take credit for the way in which they have supported the Gaelscoileanna.
I want to refer briefly to the situation in Gaelscoil Thomás Dáibhis in Mallow. Some years ago it was proposed to build a new vocational school in Mallow. Despite the fact that the planning process had reached stage five just because somebody said the numbers were slightly down that school was not proceeded with. It was envisaged that the Gaelscoil would be accommodated in the new vocational building when it was constructed. Because there has been a substantial increase in the number of pupils attending the Gaelscoil this has meant that temporary buildings have had to be found for them. This school is experiencing some serious problems at present. I cannot elaborate on them at the moment but when young children are being accommodated in overcrowded conditions which are deemed to be unsuitable, these problems need to be addressed urgently. I appeal to the Minister to address the problems being experienced by the Gaelscoil in Mallow where, as I said previously, the interest in Gaelscoileanna is growing.
