I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter on the Adjournment.
St. Canice's boys' school in Finglas is in urgent need of complete refurbishment. I visited the school recently and was shocked by what I found. The exterior of the building is seriously run-down, with rotting windows and an overall appearance of dereliction. The conditions inside the school are reminiscent of the poor conditions which obtained in the 1930s. In 2001, these conditions are shameful. Teachers and pupils are working in their overcoats because of the cold. For six weeks during the winter, temperatures at the school fell below the required standard of 16 degrees centigrade. This was in spite of the fact that the heating was set at full power, at huge expense to the board of management.
Most of the windows in the school are nailed closed, some cannot be fully closed and all need to be replaced as a matter of urgency. The central heating system has many leaks and must be completely replaced. The roof of the school is in very poor condition and requires total refurbishment. Large lumps of plaster have fallen from ceilings, both in classrooms and on corridors, exposing the beams above. Several of the toilets are beyond use and leaking. This has resulted in seepage into the plasterwork of the walls on the main corridor, giving a permanently strong stench of urine in many parts of the school.
The administration section of the school is dilapidated and hopelessly inadequate. There is no parents' room and, therefore, the work of the home-school-community liaison teacher is greatly hampered. Cleaning materials and equipment are kept in the staff toilets because the small storeroom is used to house the photocopier and computer. The school secretary operates from a tiny cubby-hole off the main corridor and the principal's office is completely inadequate.
The required repair work has been promised for a long time but, as yet, no formal approvals have been given. Following an inspection last summer, it was decided to urgently remove asbestos from the floor tiles and window sills. Since then the concrete walls and floors have been left bare which has made it even more difficult to heat the premises. Teachers now stand on small mats and have to ensure that the pupils stand up and move around frequently to remain warm.
The extraordinary thing is that, in spite of the appalling physical conditions, the school is retaining its pupil numbers. This is a huge credit to the quality of teaching provided by the staff. I have no doubt that no other group of public sector workers would tolerate these dreadful working conditions. The staff would be perfectly justified in withdrawing from work because of those conditions. The parents, who are exceptionally loyal to the school, are rapidly losing patience with the Department and the Minister who have shown such scant regard for the needs of their children.
At a time when the Government has access to such a large budget surplus, it is morally reprehensible that children should be obliged to suffer the effects of official neglect of this nature. St. Canice's boys' school in Finglas needs urgent and full refurbishment to bring it up to modern standards and to ensure that its pupils and staff have access to the facilities they deserve. This school retains special disadvantaged status, but the disgraceful conditions which obtain there compound the disadvantage and do nothing to encourage a positive attitude among the pupils to their school. I call on the Minister to give immediate approval to the required refurbishment work and to sanction the immediate provision of temporary prefabricated accommodation while that work is being carried out. The pupils and staff at St. Canice's deserve nothing less. They have been neglected for long enough.
