Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter. The new Convent Primary School in Listowel opened in 1990 on a greenfield site. It was then an eight-classroom school with two existing prefabs on the site of the old school. The prefabs were demolished and removed in 2000 due to asbestos danger. The current primary school is unique in that it shares its campus with Nano Nagle special school, an arrangement in which I was involved in 1987 as I was then closely involved with the Nano Nagle school. It was quite forward thinking at the time that a special school should be located on the same site as a mainstream school.

At present 19 mainstream teachers are working in the following conditions. The school has eight classrooms, seven portacabins, one converted small entrance hall which is used as a classroom, one corridor with a fire exit which is used as a classroom, one converted small library which is used as a classroom and the principal's office. There are 270 children attending the school, including special needs children, some of whom are autistic or have Down's syndrome, impaired hearing or cerebral palsy, among other conditions.

Due to the seven portacabins in the schoolyard the play area is severely restricted. This situation presents an ongoing daily nightmare in the schoolyard for both pupils and teachers. Running is curtailed due to lack of space in the playground, which is just 22 m by 16 m. As a result, children are allowed outside for only half the normal play time as the yard is too small to accommodate everyone. Basketball was played but this no longer happens in the schoolyard as portakabins are now located in the basketball play area. Portakabins present health problems for children and teachers due to fluctuating temperature in winter and summer, and in any case the portakabins are undersized.

There is also a major difficulty with car parking. The carpark in front of school, which I pass regularly, is extremely dangerous; but for good traffic management, accidents would happen. The carpark is shared with Nano Nagle special school, although just 20 carpark spaces are available. A green area could be converted into carparking spaces and I do not know why this has not been done.

There are 18 teachers and nine ancillary staff in the Convent primary school and 11 teachers and 32 ancillary staff in the Nano Nagle school. Therefore, there is a shortfall of 50 carparking spaces, without taking into account the number of parents and others who visit the school on a regular basis. This presents daily a chaotic and dangerous situation for teachers, parents and children and all concerned.

An application was made on 4 November 2004 for an extension to the school. The commission on accommodation recommended an immediate extension to the Convent primary school. The projection of new pupils is very consistent for future years and Listowel is a growing town with a population that will increase gradually. At present, parents are being forced to send their children to the neighbouring rural schools and this in turn puts pressure on those schools to increase their accommodation.

I appeal to the Minister to give some positive news to the principal, staff and board of management of the convent primary school in Listowel. They have a very strong case. It is not acceptable that children should have to be taught in portakabins that are not of proper size. In this age of obesity, young children need play areas and it is not acceptable that their playground should be taken over and restricted by the presence of portakabins.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the position regarding a proposed building project for the Convent national school in Listowel, County Kerry.

I wish to explain the Deputy's reference to the commission on school accommodation. He is referring here to what is known as an area development plan for the north Kerry area which was published by the commission on school accommodation in January 2007. This plan examined primary and post-primary educational infrastructure provision in the Tarbert, Listowel, Ballybunion, Causeway, Castleisland and Tralee areas of north Kerry. The final plan derives from, among other things, a widespread public consultation process and, in its final format, the Department's long-term educational strategy at both primary and post-primary level is set out for the areas concerned. The plan also forms the framework against which capital investment for those areas will be made for the foreseeable future, subject to the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects.

There are 12 primary schools in Listowel. In its examination of enrolments in these schools, the commission found no change in enrolments between 1997 to 1998 and 2006 to 2007. While pointing out increases and decreases in enrolments in individual schools, the commission also found that there was no trend that would indicate a discernible increase in enrolments in the future in an overall context. From census data, the commission found that there was no significant increase in the demographics of the area either.

The convent national school is an all girls' school catering for pupils from junior infants to sixth class. It has a current enrolment of 271 pupils. The current staffing comprises a principal, seven classroom assistants, one resource teacher for Travellers, four learning support-resource teachers, one language support teacher and two teachers under the programme Giving Children an Even Break.

In its recommendation on the Convent national school, the commission on school accommodation said that attention should be given by the Department to its proposed building project. The project in question relates to the replacement of prefab accommodation. The application for capital funding to enable this has been assessed and assigned a band two rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects to which I already referred. This reflects the fact that the school has a significant element of permanent accommodation and some prefab structures.

The Deputy will appreciate that the focus for my Department's capital programme for 2008 is on providing accommodation in areas of rapid population growth where little or no school accommodation exists. Where the budgetary situation allows, however, other projects may be approved to proceed, but this will be in accordance with the band rating assigned to individual projects to ensure that the highest priority projects are targeted first. This is the purpose of the prioritisation criteria in the first place. Progression of the project for the Convent national school in Listowel will be considered in this context.

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Government has invested heavily in extending and upgrading the existing school stock in recent years because it has a full appreciation of the need to ensure that all our schools have adequate facilities. It is the Department's intention to continue this process to build on the huge progress which has been made.