Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter for discussion. Lankhill national school on the outskirts of Westport is a long-established school in a rural area. As a rural school, it is at a disadvantage because it is not in a commuter belt. While school building projects in commuter belts are fast-tracked and approved within months, the completion of new accommodation for Lankhill national school could take up to eight years.

The board of management, principal and teachers at Lankhill national school want a technical assessment carried out immediately. The school has excellent staff and student numbers have increased rapidly from 26 in 1999 to 42 in the 2006-07 school year. This increase is due to the significant number of new houses approved in the area and the large number of people who have moved in as a result. Many people living in towns such as Westport are trying to move to rural areas and want their children educated in rural schools because they believe smaller student numbers will give them better educational opportunities.

I ask the Minister for Education and Science to instruct her staff to visit the school and carry out a technical assessment. Rather than wasting taxpayers' money by approving grant aid for prefabricated buildings, which cost €60,000 each and are currently leased, the Minister should move the building project at the school to stage one and include it in the forthcoming list of school building projects. If the project does not feature on the list, it will be left behind for 20 years.

It is wrong to send out mixed messages. On the one hand, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, informs us that the Government wants people to stay in rural areas and encourage proper planning and facilities in them, while, on the other, the Department of Education and Science discriminates against small schools in rural areas. It is wrong to discriminate against rural children. I call on the Minister to ensure a technical assessment is done immediately.

I hope I will not have to raise this matter in the House regularly and warn the Department that I will not let the matter rest. I also put the Ceann Comhairle on notice that I will raise it on the Adjournment and the Order of Business on a regular basis until such time as the project is included in the schools building programme. We do not want Lankhill national school to be left behind.

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