I raise the condition of a school in County Roscommon called O'Conor Don national school at Cloobonniffe near Castlerea. This school was built in 1875 and most of the original features of the school are still in place. It was built by Charles Owen O'Conor Don, who was an MP for Roscommon for 40 years in the latter half of the 19th century. He was a very famous benefactor and promoter of education at a time when there was no national school system. He provided a number of schools in the area, but the Cloobonniffe school is one of only two surviving so that indicates its historical significance.
About four years ago the board of management of the school applied to the Minister's Department for funding to provide a general purposes room and new toilets and to renovate existing classrooms, which are well below the minimum size now demanded by the Minister's Department. The toilets are all outdoors. The windows and doors in the school are the original fittings. The windows can no longer open, causing a serious ventilation problem. The floors are, by and large, the original wooden floors, and are rotten and vermin ridden. The electrical wiring has been examined by a competent electrical engineer and found to be unsafe and outdated. The play area of the school is a mess of broken tarmacadam and loose maintenance. The school has many hazardous features. It is a school that should be included in the 2002 schools building programme.
As far back as 1998 that the board of management first contacted the Department. The Department soon agreed that the programme of refurbishment I have outlined urgently needed to be done, but so far nothing has happened. I hope the Minister's statement will offer me the good news that this school will be included in this year's schools building programme.
