Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I ask the Minister of State to talk with the Minister for Education, and I will talk with her myself at the vote tomorrow night. Once again, I just want to emphasise that these boys and girls are at their best stages of life. To have to work at a facility like this is not fair to the teachers, it is not fair to the staff and it is not fair to the board of management. Even now, there are roof sections that are leaking, there are no proper changing rooms and there are no proper sporting facilities.

These are all facilities the school had built in the 1980s. The building itself goes back to the 1800s. This building needs a refurbishment. We need modern schools. A great deal of money has been put into education by this Government, the previous one and earlier governments. This school, in particular, has now built up a fantastic student base. There is a fantastic community spirit in Balla. It has been one of the best towns in County Mayo over the past number of years because they have pulled together as a community. They have built up the town and the different sporting organisations and the one thing that is lacking now is school facilities. I am calling on the Minister and the Department to immediately do whatever has to be done to get these new facilities put in place. All they are looking for is a refurbishment to modernise the school.

The principal came in a number of years ago when the school was in great difficulty because people were not seeing it as a modern facility. People want a modern facility now. The school has won the pupils back, has won the parents back and has won the catchment areas back. In fact, the school is now growing so fast that it has a problem. This is why I want to see something done for this school immediately. The principal has done a superb job, as have the 42 staff there who have all worked well with Fr. Carney, who is the local parish priest. He has also done a tremendous job. There is a great community spirit in the town. I believe it deserves its school. I know that the Minister and the Department will not be found wanting because it is a school that is progressing. It is great to see the numbers because a number of years ago there were worries about whether the school would survive. The numbers were dropping but now the numbers are increasing in all of the catchment area. People are also coming in from outside of the catchment area now because the school has got such a great reputation. What is needed now is the facility. I thank the Minister of State.

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