Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle, at the outset, for selecting this item this evening for debate.

On behalf of the board of management, staff, pupils and parents of Eglish national school, Ballinasloe, County Galway, I ask that the Minister respond to their needs with the immediate replacement of the school in the interests of health and safety and provide temporary accommodation. In the short time available, I will describe the conditions in the school adequately so the Minister of State can respond. The school was built in 1899 and is therefore 109 years old. It has 48 pupils in its two rooms. Over the years, Department funding would normally be provided to upgrade such a school, but not in this case. Without exaggeration, I contend the Minister of State will be horrified at the crisis in the school, which requires an urgent response. Let me quote the response of the board of management and new principal of the school to the conditions therein:

Our school is 109 years old and is falling down around us. We have no central heating, only one hot water source, heating one tap. The roof is rotten and slates fall off regularly. The walls are cracking at an alarming rate, the wiring is a fire hazard. We have damp, mould, snails, rats and bats. The windows are rotten and leaking — several have had to be nailed shut to stop them from falling in. The toilet floors are regularly flooded .... In short, we desperately need a new school.

The application for a new school is with the Department in Tullamore.

There is a crisis in the school. To add to it, there are pupils with special needs who have no facilities whatsoever. Access via the steps and narrow doors is not possible for a person in a wheelchair. There is an autistic pupil at the school but there is no place for one-to-one education, except in a draughty hallway. I cannot understand how any Minister for Education and Science, conscious of health and safety, can allow this to continue. The authorities are seeking a new school. The old one will have to be knocked down and temporary accommodation will have to be provided. A new teacher is due in the school next September but there is no room for that teacher.

In the interest of health and safety, the board of management had to call in Rentokil to eliminate the rats from the school and its surroundings. The last sentence in Rentokil's report states: "I would recommend that young children be kept indoors until the rodent activity is controlled." If, in 2008, this is the best we can do for the children, parents and staff associated with Eglish national school, we have a very serious crisis.

I do not want to hear the Minister of State list the funding allocated for school renovations in 2008 and over the past ten years. This is not what the people of Eglish want to hear tonight. I ask that he make a positive gesture and put in place a plan for issuing an immediate response to the board of management. We cannot condemn children to endure the aforedescribed circumstances in this 109 year old school in order to provide them with an education. If we are serious about providing them with an education, some semblance of support for those who are disadvantaged is required. I await the Minister of State's response but I cannot understand why such a crisis must be inflicted on pupils in this day and age.

Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to outline to the House my Department's position on the proposed new school at Eglish. Eglish national school is a co-educational facility with a current enrolment of 48 pupils. The school has a principal, a mainstream assistant and a resource teacher for Travellers.

An application for capital funding towards the provision of a new school building has been received from Eglish national school. The long-term projected staffing assessment and the further progression of the proposed building project is under consideration. In the interim, officials in my Department have been in contact with the school management regarding the provision of temporary accommodation. Additional information is expected from the school management shortly and when this documentation is received the school authority will be notified of the position without delay.

I will not refer to the money spent in the past; suffice it to say that, under the national development plan, almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools. This investment will facilitate the provision of new schools and extensions in developing areas and the improvement of existing schools, through the provision of replacement schools, extensions or large-scale refurbishments over the coming years.

The progression of all large-scale building projects from initial design stage through to construction is considered on an ongoing basis in the context of the national development plan and the Department's multi-annual schools building and modernisation programme. The proposed project for Eglish national school likewise will be considered in that context. I assure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, is committed to providing suitable high-quality accommodation for Eglish national school at the earliest possible date.