Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 17 Apr 1997

Vol. 477 No. 7

Adjournment Debate. - Knockanean (Clare) School.

Miss de Valera

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this very important matter. Despite raising it in the Dáil on a number of occasions, the teachers, parents and pupils of Knockanean national school are still awaiting a positive response from the Minister. The conditions at the school are appalling and need immediate attention. Three new classrooms are needed immediately to replace existing prefabs. The school, which has 140 pupils, is currently a five teacher school, with three solid classrooms and two prefabs.

Knockanean national school has been in constant contact with the Department since 1993 seeking the replacement of buildings. It arranged for plans to be drawn up and employed a quantity surveyor to estimate the total cost. The local community has continually supported the school and local funding was provided for the development of a playing pitch and basketball court. Much has been done at local level, yet those efforts have not been matched by the Minister's commitment. The local community has already saved the Government a considerable amount of money in raising funds in 1987 and 1991 to help towards building solid rooms to replace the prefabs. Such an initiative should be recognised and rewarded by the Minister.

Department inspectors visited the school in February and June 1996 and concluded that both prefabs need to be replaced with solid rooms. The school does not have a general purposes room and a proposal by the school in this regard should be taken on board by the Department.

An INTO survey in County Clare points out that Kilmurray national school and Iniscealtra national school in Mountshannon need immediate funding to upgrade existing buildings, yet no positive action has been taken on these schools. The parents and teachers have become frustrated by the lack of response from the Minister to Knockanean school and they propose to hold a public meeting in Clare tomorrow night, 18 April, to decide the action to be taken. I ask the Minister to provide proper facilities at Knockanean school, a request I have made at every opportunity in the Dáil. The Minister visited Clare recently and I hope she will have positive news for Knockanean national school.

Ms Bhreathnach

I am pleased the Deputy has given me an opportunity to outline to the House the Department's position regarding Knockanean national school, County Clare. I met representatives from the school during my visit to Clare last week.

The school has a staffing level of principal and four assistant teachers with an enrolment of 147 pupils. The accommodation at the school consists of three permanent classrooms and two prefabs which are in a poor condition and need to be replaced urgently. The Department's planning section advises that the long-term accommodation requirements at the school are five permanent classrooms. This will involve the provision of an extension to the existing school Funding for this proposal must be considered in the light of existing contractual commitments and other priority projects. The amount of investment the Department of Education has had to make in County Clare suggests many years of neglect on the school building programme.

Miss de Valera

The Minister has been in Government for more than five years.

Ms Bhreathnach

I am astonished at the amount of investment that has had to be made in the Deputy's constituency. While I am committed to resolving the accommodation problems at Knockanean, I am not in a position to allocate funds to this project. However, I recognise the difficulties being experienced by the school. The project will be progressed through the various stages of architectural planning. When it is ready for tender a decision will be made regarding the timing of the tender-contract process in light of available capital funds. My Department will be in contact with the school to advise on how the project can be progressed.

To put the current financial position in context, when I became Minister for Education there was a backlog of 300 urgent major school projects. These projects accumulated as a result of substantial cuts in capital funding for primary schools from 1988 to 1992.

Miss de Valera

Schools have been moved up and down the political list of priorities by the Government.

Ms Bhreathnach

In the past four years the Government has increased significantly the capital funding for schools and substantial progress has been made in reducing the arrears. I accept that more needs to be done for the Deputy's county and every effort will be made to advance the project as quickly as possible. I thank her for giving me this opportunity to outline the current position.

The Dáil adjourned at 4.25 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April 1997.