Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue matter this evening. Tubber is a very small village situated right on the Clare-Galway border. It is a few kilometres south of Gort and a few kilometres north of Crusheen. It is a beautiful village. I am sure that as a Mayo man, the Minister of State can almost imagine how rural, scenic and beautiful Tubber is. In 1852, like many other villages in Ireland, Tubber had its bricks-and-mortar school built. It is a beautiful school. At the time in 1852, there were 100 pupils enrolled. An inspection at the time by the then-equivalent of the Department of Education confirmed that reading, writing, Irish, of course, arithmetic, geography and history were being taught to a high level to the 100 pupils there. It can be imagined that when the schoolmaster went out and rang the bell in the 1850s, the children went out and played safely on the road.

That was the 1850s, and things have changed drastically since then. Good and all as Tubber school has been and the incredible service it has given to the community, the current building has run its course. It is a really old, antiquated structure. This situation has become very stark lately because things like the sewerage system are starting to give major trouble. The school also needs special education classrooms and facilities like this, which a modern school would have. There is no space in the current location. It is hemmed in on a triangular site by two very busy roads. These are the same roads that were there in 1852, but both of them are now very busy. It is quite dangerous to drop children off at school. Owing to the nature of the site, there is very little space for that school to expand.

For the past three years, therefore, I have been engaging extensively, sometimes daily, with the wonderful principal there, Patricia Lee. I believe she has tuned in to watch this debate tonight, as has the deputy principal, Michelle Davoren. They work out of two classrooms. I will help us visualise the set-up. These classrooms are very small, probably even a little bit smaller than the area in the Dáil Chamber where the Government representatives sit. The secretary, SET, etc., are all in the adjacent room. Everything is crammed in. People eat their lunches off photocopiers, pack away after lunch and then try to teach kids around the photocopier. I was a schoolteacher for 16 years and I am still a member of the INTO. I have never, however, seen a school like this one in my county.

I, therefore, put down this Topical Issue matter. Like all good politicians, I did a lot of leg work today. I was over and back with the Minister, Deputy Foley. I then received a wonderful phone call to say there was good news and there was going to be an announcement that Tubber National School would get two 80 m. sq. classrooms, a new staff room and a new SET room, all of which the people involved have been crying out for. This accommodation will have to move across the road because there is no room at the current site. To begin with, these new rooms will be modular. We all believe, though, that this is the start of the pathway to a bricks-and-mortar building to replace the one that has been there since 1852.

I wish to thank the Minister, Deputy Foley, on the record for this really good news today. It is going down so well with the school community there. I have been in contact with Patricia Lee, the principal, and Michelle Davoren, the deputy principal. I also acknowledge another person who has played a significant role in this regard, namely, Councillor Joe Killeen, my party colleague. Many people might know that Joe was a former teacher and principal and president of the INTO. He has doggedly campaigned for this new accommodation too.

We would love to get a bit of detail now from the Minister of State on when this project will happen. We had this announcement today from the Minister and it is going down so well with the school community. It has been welcomed and many people have tuned in to watch this debate. We would, however, love to get some of the detail on when this provision of new accommodation will happen and what will happen next. Can the school have a more expansive enrolment for September 2024 or would this be getting a little too far ahead of ourselves? A little bit of detail on the bricks-and-mortar building that we are really looking for, ultimately, would also be appreciated. Unlike some of the other speakers, I appreciate what the Minister of State is doing in this Department and I look forward to a positive reply.

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