Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)

I appreciate the opportunity to raise this important matter this evening.

The sense of despair I have every time I arrive in this House to raise a delayed school building project is matched only by the despair and frustration of the staff, parents and pupils affected. Tonight I am asking the Minister to explain the unacceptable delays in the provision of a new school to replace Bhreac Chluain national school, Annascaul, County Kerry.

Bhreac Chluain national school has 111 pupils, four classrooms and a dedicated principal and staff. However, the school in which they are expected to teach does not reflect a country with a booming economy and a stated Government commitment to education. Annascaul is a rapidly developing area and the population increase requires an expansion in facilities, particularly those relating to education.

The school in question is over 100 years old and is in serious need of replacement. I want to give some examples of the facilities in which the staff and pupils are expected to operate. There are two resource teachers in the school but they have only one room between them. A prefab to house the second teacher and pupils has been applied for through the Department of Education and Science but the school has heard nothing. The cloakroom, where the children hang their coats, has to be used as an art room as it is the only space for such work. The fire exit at the back of the school is cluttered with coats and bags and the library is out of use as it is being used as a classroom by a resource teacher. So much for the promotion of libraries and literacy in our schools. The computer space — one could not call it a room — is right outside the toilets and part of the toilets area had to be converted to facilitate the library.

I think I have painted a clear picture for the Minister. The school building project has been on the desk of the Minister for Education and Science since 1998. However, there has not been a whit of progress towards the new school in the intervening years. I want answers to why this is the case.

The sense of exasperation and despair among staff and parents is palpable and they cannot understand why no progress has been made on their new school. They are tired of phoning Tullamore, writing letters to politicians and highlighting their situation in public. All they want to know is when the new school will be delivered. The board of management wants to know where it stands. They do not want another standard Pontius Pilate reply, but rather to know when this project will be prioritised.

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