Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

Brierfield national school is one of 289 projects at the early stage of architectural planning in the Department of Education and Science. I understand it is in band 3. The school has no cloakroom, hot water or toilets. That is a serious situation when one has a three teacher school with 63 pupils. There are several young families in the area and every indication numbers in the school will probably increase.

The board of management of the school is anxious that the Minister looks at a pilot initiative to provide funds for indoor toilets, which are obviously badly needed. The school also seeks enlargement of one classroom as the building is 110 years old which means the rooms are, therefore, much smaller than the minimum recommended size, with children crammed together in stuffy rooms. This is not an environment conducive to learning, nor is it satisfactory from a safety point of view, as children are more prone to bump into things in an overcrowded room. A resource teacher room and a storage room are also needed. There are only three rooms and three teachers in the school and rooms are needed for learning support, school administration and so on. This work is all done in the corridor which is draughty, cluttered with coats and bags and offers no privacy.