I understand Senator McKenna is sharing his time with Senator O'Toole.
Adjournment Matter. - County Offaly School.
Acting Chairman
Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh ar Aire agus leithscéal a ghabháil leis as ucht cur isteach ar ghnóthaí eile atá faoin a chúram.
I thank the Minister for taking this matter and I appreciate the fact that he is here with us. It is in relation to a primary school in Carrig, Birr, County Offaly. I would like briefly to outline the background and development of Carrig as a vibrant community and the excellent name that the primary school has established for itself over the past number of years.
The community in Carrig is somewhat unique in that it is in County Offaly but comes under the auspices of Tipperary North Riding County Council for administration purposes. Being on the periphery, it could be argued that it is at somewhat of a disadvantage. The community have never seen things in that way and at present while other rural areas have difficulty in keeping their population from falling, the population in Carrig is increasing. More and more people are coming to settle there. It says a great deal for the spirit of the community and the kind of people who are living there.
Last Sunday we witnessed one of the greatest days in the history of Carrig when an ecumenical service was held to mark the official opening of a new community centre at which all the dignitaries of North Tipperary and Offaly were present. This outstanding achievement is a monument to the enthusiasm, dedication, spirit and pride in their area of the people. Rather than sit back and expect others to do things for them, they got up and did it for themselves. That community centre was a tremendous achievement. They received £10,000 from the national lottery but £70,000 was collected by the local community. It is important to point out that it is a very small, local community. In fact, before the doors were open last Sunday every single penny that it took to build this community centre, about £85,000, was collected. They have a few pounds in the bank as well.
It is with a spirit and pride and dedication that I raise the issue of the school in Carrig. The community centre has the added advantage of being right beside the school and this is of immense benefit to the pupils.
The school in Carrig is a three teacher school and comprises two small rooms and a prefab that is in a very bad state of repair at the moment. Enrolment in 1989 was 81 and that is a far cry from the position that obtained some ten years ago when it was in the process of being closed. The school was built in 1911. The rooms are half the recommended size of the Department's regulations. The children have 1.5 square metres of space per head, and that is not taking furniture into account.
As you would expect, the school is very congested. There is no staff room, storage facilities or library. Medical inspection has to be carried out in the porch which is definitely not suitable. There is no heating or hot water. There is one washhand basin and two toilets for 40 girls and one washand basin plus one urinal for 40 boys. The condition of the toilets are extremely bad. The roof is leaking. The recommended degrees of heating are 68ºF for the classroom and 17ºF in the cloakrooms and toilets. These temperatures are never reached because of the poor condition of the doors and windows and the very high ceilings. It will be appreciated that, as the school was built in 1911, the ceilings tend to be extremely high. Conditions could be described as being rather primitive.
The condition of the prefab is extremely bad. All the windows are leaking and they have tried on occasions to do something about them. Different workmen and builders who have inspected the premises have said that the windows cannot be repaired because if they try to do something with them they will disintegrate.
Art materials and other items are continually eaten by mice who destroy everything. I hasten to add that responsibility for the condition of the school cannot be laid at the door of the present Minister. The difficulties that exist arose prior to the Minister assuming office. Last April she granted approval for a new extension which will include two extra classrooms, converting the existing two classrooms into one classroom, adding a staff room, a library-cum-medical room, proper toilet facilities and extra play space. I ask the Minister to use his good offices to ensure that there will not be any delay in providing the extension and that the much needed facility will be put in place in 1991.
I thank the Minister of State for his patience and interest in the problems of Carrig School. I know that approval having been given, he will ensure that the extension is completed with all possible haste.
I thank Senator McKenna for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The school is the focal point in many communities. The Minister is aware of this given his own background. I caution Senator McKenna that my grandfather always said to me, "never let them see the money in your hands, son". I would not tell the Minister I had money in the bank while looking for a grant at the same time. It is a very fair recommendation of the commitment and contribution made by the local community.
I know, the Minister knows and Senator McKenna knows that education just cannot continue in an environment which is so hostile to learning as outlined by the Senator. It would be facile for me to blame the Minister but this problem has existed for a number of years. Now is the time for it to be resolved. As a result of the overcrowded conditions in the school the curriculum cannot be implemented. We all know that. Urgent action needs to be taken. Every year at this time £1 million or £0.5 million is unspent on buildings. I recall two years we had it out hammer and tongs during the months of October, November and December and I nearly cracked up in January when I found out that money was sent back. We were both misinformed.
I am concerned that the budget for building next year has been reduced. This school building has been there for a long number of years. It is not one of the old 20×20 classrooms, as we called them. They are smaller. The new curriculum cannot be implemented because there is no space for children to move. There is no space for teachers to operate. The Minister said recently in a newspaper his job was his hobby. Sport is his hobby as well as his job. It is great to see somebody happy in his job. I am happy in mine. I urge him to give this parish a chance to do what the teachers want to do what the parents are demanding and what he knows is necessary to be done in order that the curriculum operate. I urge the Minister to act sympathetically and quickly.
I thank, Senator McKenna not just for giving me some time but also for raising the matter because it is nice to see this gesture from the Government benches. It was not raised in an aggressive way but to describe a problem which needs to be resolved. The Minister's signature at the bottom of a cheque will resolve the problem.
I thank both Senators for the matter of fact way they presented this case. I am pleased to hear Senator O'Toole admit something that I always knew, that he was happy in his work.
I have always been happy in my work.
I am glad Senator McKenna has given me the opportunity of outlining the Department's intentions in relation to Carrig national school, County Tipperary. The school has three teachers and an enrolment of 80 pupils approximately. The accommodation consists of a permanent building with two classrooms and a prefab. I readily accept that the conditions are not satisfactory. A major extension of the school was proposed in 1986 but it was not possible for this project to proceed because of the cost which would have been involved. However, because of the strong representations by the school authorities to my Department, and indeed representations by Senator McKenna and others, I was glad to be able to approve earlier this year a modified project for Carrig national school. This was in line with the general policies for national schools which have been successfully in place since I took office in 1987, that is to concentrate the available capital on essential classroom accommodation and other basic facilities.
The following are the specific proposals in this case: a permanent extension of two classrooms and a conversion of the existing school building into one standard classroom; a staff room; a library and medical room. In addition, suitable toilet facilities and an adequate hard paved area will also be provided. I am glad to say that these proposals have the full acceptance of the school authorities and I know that when implemented they will be a source of great pride to all concerned.
Will the Minister not give them a GP room as well?
I will come to that in a moment. I acknowledge that the Department have been a bit behind on the necessary planning for the project but this was due to the large number of projects on hands. As Senators may be aware, senior officials from my Department met a deputation from the school recently and the whole matter was fully discussed. I am glad to say that my Department's assurances were fully accepted by the deputation. Architects from my Department visited the school a few days after that and completed the necessary survey. As a result, a sketch plan for the project will be completed at the earliest possible date and will then be sent to the school authorities to enable them to apply for local authority planning permission.
As the Senators will appreciate, there are a number of factors in relation to the project outside the control of my Department and because of this I am not in a position at this stage to say when tenders can be invited or a contract placed. However, I assure Senators and all those concerned that any necessary delay will be kept to an absolute minimum. As a result of this debate, we will be in contact with Senator McKenna in order to be more specific about when we can go to tender for the project and also give an indication as to when a contract can be placed.
There are two salient factors that might be mentioned in regard to this project. It is typical of a number of schools in this deplorable condition throughout the country. I am glad to say that the number is steadily becoming smaller. I am the first to admit what Senators O'Toole and McKenna have said on a number of occasions to me, both in the House and privately, that it is disgraceful that any school should find itself in this position. It typifies more than anything else the wrong approach that was taken over the years to the provision of adequate school buildings. I spoke about this in the House already so I will not go back over it. The proper approach is now being taken where we cut costs without cutting quality. Both Senators will agree that the projects we have completed are to a very high standard of construction and finish and have been done at a fraction of the cost that was proposed in earlier plans. That is the case with this school.
Except for GP rooms.
We have left out GP rooms. There was much soul-searching on the part of the Minister and myself and our officials about this because we accept the necessity for GP rooms in primary schools. It was a question of deciding whether we wanted to deal with all of the hovels as quickly as possible or tackling all the major problem schools as quickly as possible. We decided to put in essential classroom accommodation to leave over GP room development to a later date. I hope that now that we are getting through the last remaining hovels, and this is certainly one of them, we can proceed to add on GP rooms to schools which need them. In that context, I encourage schools to fund-raise and provide the GP room as part of the construction project. That is being done very successfully. People have got together and taken the initiative. For very little money they have provided the GP room themselves in addition to the essential classroom and other ancillary accommodation we provide. Senator O'Toole shakes his head and says that that is not good enough.
It can only happen where people have money. It is unfair.
I accept that. We were careful to ensure that in large schools, especially in workingclass areas, we provided general purpose rooms. They have not been left out everywhere. In small schools, like the one in question, it has been necessary to leave out the general purpose room. Three years ago when we took office the first question put to our officials was, "How long will it take to deal with the unacceptable school buildings throughout the country?" The answer was, "Eight years". To continue on with the way things were it would have taken us eight years to deal with the Carrigs of this world. We have gone more than two-thirds of the way in clearing the worst projects. By the end of 1991, we will have completed all the bad projects. We will have done it on a reduced budget in one-third of the time that was projected under the old scheme.
There has been significant progress. I know that Senator O'Toole in particular has said many things over the years, and rightly so. He should now acknowledge the progress that has been made and look at some of the projects. I could give examples, for instance, of schools where architectural planning was completed at a cost of £350,000. We have since built the same school for £200,000.
I am constrained——
(Interruptions.)
Acting Chairman
The Minister to conclude.
Progress has been made. I am quite happy to take constructive criticism on the chin when it is warranted. It was warranted in regard to the school building programme of the Department of Education and a number of bad schools. We have got over that now and that should be recognised. I know Senator O'Toole will be one of the first to recognise it. I know that Senator McKenna is very appreciative of the progress that has been made.
The Seanad adjourned at 10.5 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 13 December 1990.