Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important issue for the Adjournment and the Minister of State for replying.

Cavan No. 1 national school plays an important part in the education of young people in the busy town of Cavan. It is a Church of Ireland based school but many of its pupils are from different backgrounds and nationalities. I first got involved with this school more than ten years ago when numbers were small and the building was in an impossible situation for modern education. Money was provided for restructuring and heating but since then, as the figures will show, it has an enrolment of 61 with up to 20 on a waiting list. There are two teachers, with the principal dealing with 36 children, covering four classes in one room. There are 25 children in the other room.

They welcome the fact that they have been provided support under the devolved grant but, unfortunately, when the issue is being dealt with in a listed building, costs are very high. For example, under the regulations insisted on by An Taisce, wooden windows must be fitted all around the building even though only one wall can be seen from the road since the building is in a courtyard. They had hoped to get a summer grant scheme but that did not materialise.

It appears the voluntary sector will have to raise up to €200,000, which in a small parish is unacceptable. For the particular project the voluntary committee, led by the principal, has raised more than €30,000 and is in the process of organising a major auction in the next few weeks. Is it fair that a principal helping to organise this project, overseeing the building work and teaching full-time leaves the school at 12 midnight and is back at 6.30 a.m. to ensure everything is done and in order?

Since devolved grants were first introduced I have supported the system and believe it has delivered good value for money to the Department and to schools. The cost per pupil is only a fraction of the Department's system but in this case sufficient money has not been provided to take into account the structure of the building and the fact that it is a listed building and all that entails.

The past history of the school shows clearly that the chairperson, principal, other teachers and parents have more than met their obligations and will compare with any school in Ireland. I hope that common sense will prevail and that realistic additional funding will be made available to ensure that a usable good structure will be put in place.

It is likely that the numbers will justify a fourth teacher within the next 12 months, leading to the necessity for prefabs, which will curtail further the play area. This means the front space used for car parking will have to be drained, tarred and secured to have a decent playground.

Since this was a listed building an architect who specialises in the field had to be employed to meet An Taisce and Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regulations and added more than €60,000 to the cost. Structural engineers, quantity surveyors and archaeologists had also to be employed. The type of building and the working timescale under the devolved grant limited the number of new builders interested and increased the cost.

In a letter to the Department, the principal said there was a need to provide access to all areas and a toilet for a child with spina bifida enrolled in September. The easiest option, because of its location, was to convert the school office and relocate that office. The principal is trying to deal with all situations.

When the devolved grant was granted there were a small number of non-English speaking children but September saw a large increase for all schools in Cavan, including Cavan No. 1 national school. The school now has a full-time language teacher but no classroom. She shares a room with a language support-resource teacher who is in attendance 17.5 hours per week. If the residence were furbished, it would house two rooms suitable for language teachers, learning support and so on.

The school is growing. Within the parish numbers are increasing dramatically. I ask that the position be looked at in a compassionate and caring way. The original quote which was more than €600,000 has been brought down to €500,000 but the grant will not meet it. This group has engaged in fund-raising in the past for previous projects. This project has raised more than €30,000. It hopes to raise more at the auction but it is not possible to raise €200,000.

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