Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. Scoil Eoin in Balluanach, Tralee, was established in 1890 and extended in 1929 and 1960. It is a Mercy convent school with a Mercy ethos. Its present enrolment is 620 pupils and the staffing complement on 30 September 2004 included 31 teachers, eight special needs assistants, a caretaker and a secretary. By September 2005, however, the school will lose two teachers as a consequence of being two pupils short for the staffing schedule last September. The school will also be affected if the new weighted system is introduced.

Scoil Eoin has 22 mainstream classes and two classes for autistic pupils and it has a variety of classroom accommodation. The oldest section facing the main road has six rooms with very limited space. The main building dating from 1960 has six classrooms which are small by modern standards and unsuitable to meet the educational needs of young children. There are 12 prefabricated classrooms at the back of the school and other ancillary rooms including offices and a school hall. The school accommodation has been well maintained over the years. It is a credit to all those responsible for its upkeep, including the principal, teachers and caretaker, that the impression one gets on visiting the school is that the buildings are in great condition.

However, the reality is different and there is a need for major improvement in the school accommodation. The adjacent post-primary school was moved to new premises in Mounthawk, Caherslee, Tralee, some years ago. This movement will facilitate the redevelopment of this important educational centre to provide modern classroom facilities, a better entrance, improved parking arrangements and a general refurbishment of the existing accommodation.

The prefabricated classrooms accommodate 304 pupils, while 134 students are based in the 1960 building and 182 in the 1890 building. The only modification to the oldest part of the school, which must be one of the oldest school buildings in the country, is that central heating was installed some time ago. A request was made by the board of management of the Department of Education of Science for a total rebuild in 2001. At the request of the Department, a feasibility report was presented by the board in late 2002. There has been no response to this report.

Will the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, inform the Minister that the ideal solution is to refurbish the existing building as set out in the feasibility study and to build on the site on which the prefabs are based? A suggested move to a greenfield site would not suit the pupils and their families as it would involve a move some way out of town. Moreover, there would be significant expense involved in purchasing a site. The school is already based on a valuable two-acre site and the cost of a new site of the magnitude required would probably equal the cost of refurbishment.

The Minister, Deputy Hanafin, will visit Tralee tomorrow. Will the Minister of State ask her to visit Scoil Eoin on her way to visit the modern post-primary school at Mounthawk? She should see for herself the unacceptable situation whereby children are being taught in prefabs.

See this speech in context