Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

St. Brigid's national school for girls in Palmerstown, Dublin 20, featured in news reports recently because it was not included on the list of schools building projects announced by the Minister of Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, several weeks ago, despite an assurance being given by a Minister that the project would be included on the list. It is almost ten years since the school authorities applied to have the school modernised and upgraded.

St. Brigid's national school is housed in an old building constructed in the 1950s. Since the construction of a flat-roof extension in the 1970s, no further substantial works have taken place in the school. The original application for works was made in 1999 and the proposed project proceeded to design stage in 2000. A design team estimated the project would be completed in May 2003. New plans were submitted in 2005 on foot of a request by the Department made in 2004. The authorities were informed at that point that the plans would be assessed as a priority project. In 2006, the Department wrote to the school authorities indicating that the project was long overdue and badly needed. Although the site was ready for construction in 2007, the project did not feature on the most recent list of school building projects announced a couple of weeks ago.

Students at the school must contend with an old fashioned, inadequate heating system which broke down in March last year. As a result of this breakdown, one of the teachers spent Monday mornings mopping the floors, affixing gas cylinders to heaters and telephoning a plumber to beg that he repair the boiler. In addition, teachers were unable to cook or heat foods at lunchtime because electrical sockets would blow due to increased demand. The school also had to hire expensive gas heaters at a cost of €700 because it could no longer heat the school.

A sum of €750,000 has been spent on consultation fees and moving prefabricated buildings from one site to another as part of the project. The prefabricated buildings on the site cost the Department €10,000 per month to rent. Clearly, putting the project on the long finger does not make economic sense.

Teachers and students must avoid water dripping from ceilings and run from prefabricated buildings to the main building between classes. As running water is not available in classrooms, water must be brought into classrooms in buckets if it is required under the curriculum. Health and safety issues arise for teachers and pupils. The buildings have mould, mildew and dry rot and make for a poor learning environment. The cost of heating the prefabs is substantial and the school is too cold in winter and too warm in summer. In addition, there are insufficient classrooms.

St. Brigid's is an excellent school and community facility. The teachers and pupils, who try their best in the circumstances, have been fighting for the refurbishment project for years. Having been promised the project would proceed before the 2002 and 2007 elections, they have learned that it is still on the long finger. In this day and age, it makes no sense to place pupils and teachers in conditions akin to those described by Dickens. The alleged objective of the Government is to have more sustainable public buildings to address climate change. The school buildings in St. Brigid's national school are inefficient and wasteful of energy because the Department has refused to invest the money required for the refurbishment project. The project should be a Government priority.

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