I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise on the Adjournment tonight the plight of Aghina national school and the 26 pupils who are enrolled there, along with the concerns of the teachers, parents and the board of management.
If there was ever a case to prove the need for reform of the Department of Education and Science, it is the case of Aghina national school. The school authorities have pursued improved conditions at the school since 1995. It is located about three miles from Macroom and has a long tradition of providing excellent education in circumstances that are now very difficult. It is likely that a full stream of students will have gone through the school before the key is turned on a new school building there. It is now 2001 and with the best intentions in the world, I suspect it will be more than the Department can do to have a new school in place before next September. I take it that there will not be a new school before September 2003, which will mean that eight years will have passed since parents started their campaign.
The Cromien report and a report from Deloitte and Touche, both of which deal with the need to reform radically the way in which the Department of Education and Science is administered, are sitting in the Minister's office. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, may tell us that spending on capital projects has increased significantly under this Administration but that is not worth a tráithnín to the parents of pupils at Aghina national school. They will not care how much has been spent nationally until their children are in better classrooms. I accept there has been an increase in budgetary allocations but it is not enough. The way in which business is conducted in the Department of Education and Science means that projects make snail like progress and the taxpayer does not receive value for money. It is about time this issue was taken by the scruff of the neck and the whole procedure reformed so that buildings can be built at primary and secondary levels at a faster rate to ensure full streams of pupils do not go through the system before improvements are made.
Aghina national school accommodates 26 pupils in two classrooms. By any yardstick, the teachers face almost inhuman conditions as they try to teach pupils. Fumes enter classrooms from the boiler house, the plumbing is entirely inadequate, there is no proper ventilation which makes it difficult for students to concentrate and study, the wiring is substandard and dangerous, there are not enough electrical sockets in the rooms and the toilet facilities are completely inadequate. A pupil with a disability who uses a wheelchair will be enrolled in the school next September, meaning that an already difficult situation will be exacerbated. Floor tiles are missing and broken, there is no toilet for disabled persons and dampness is a major problem. There is neither a fire door nor a fire escape, nor is there a smoke or burglar alarm. There is no security lighting, principal's office, staff room, secretary's office nor is there a remedial room to cater for the learning support teacher appointed to the school and shared with seven other primary schools. There is overcrowding in both existing classrooms. There is no bus turning bay for the bus delivering children to the school. There are no staff or pupil lockers and there is insufficient storage space. The yard and outdoor facilities are sub-standard, the roof is sub-standard and the septic tank is sub-standard.
It will be an abuse of parliamentary procedure if this Minister reads out a reply that does not make reference to what is happening in this school as he did in the previous case and as the Minister for Education and Science has done with every question put to him about school building projects. If that happens tonight I will take the matter up with the Ceann Comhairle and the Committee on Procedure and Privileges for abuse of Members in not replying to queries that have specific detail in them.
