First, I thank the Minister for coming to this House to reply to my motion. Since 1967 there have been major problems, with a long waiting list for repairs and extensions to national schools and colleges and she tackled this with great energy and determination. She had to deal with a list of broken promises going back many years.
In regard to the problem with Ardfinnan national school, patience has worn thin. They have been trying for the past ten years to provide an extension to their school. The Ardfinnan national school finance committee started fund-raising for the extension in May 1982 and continued until 1985. This entailed a lot of voluntary work. The site was prepared and the playground was extended in 1986 at a cost of £13,000. That cost would have doubled were it not for the voluntary help given by people, with machinery and materials. I congratulate the school committee, the teaching staff and parents. Their contribution to the cost of the extension to the school has been on deposit in the bank since 1985. Despite many deputations over the years to various Ministers and Departmental officials, they seem to be no nearer to getting their extension.
Two pre-fabs were acquired in 1986, after a long wait and many promises prior to that, to alleviate overcrowding. I have been informed by the principal that the floors of those pre-fabs are rotten due to flooding last year. In the interest of health and because of their danger to pupils they will have to be replaced. They are of very poor quality, they are made of glorified plywood. It is sad that this type of material is put into a school where there are many pupils. The flooding from the River Suir was unavoidable and damage was caused to other private property in the village of Ardfinnan also.
The Minister may remember having met the parish priest, Fr. Callinan, in Powerstown when opening a school. He was trying to get progress on this project and he is still very concerned. Fr. Callinan also contacted the Department to be told that the person dealing with this was on sick leave and three months later he was told that the person was on holidays. I am not making this up, it came direct from the parish priest. More recently he was told that the plans were not ready yet as the Department were very busy. I know the Department are busy as is the Minister and this is appreciated by everybody.
It is now 1991 and there are over 300 pupils attending that school who have collected over £45,000. This money has been in the bank since 1985 and the parents are very concerned about what will happen. The school board, parents and staff are totally disillusioned at this stage and they will not go on any more deputations as they believe it is a waste of time. Now that the pre-fab floors are rotten they would like to get on with the building of the extension. The parishioners who have contributed £45,000 and put in the voluntary work preparing the site and the playground feel that the whole thing was a waste of time. They have seen no progress whatsoever. I hope the Minister will have some good news for me this evening.
