James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I am seeking an update from the Minister for Education and Science regarding funding for the upgrading and refurbishment of Lanesboro community college.

Lanesboro is a small town on the Shannon. The Minister of State will be aware that the convent secondary school and local vocational school in Lanesboro amalgamated some nine or ten years ago. There was great co-operation between both bodies, pupils and teachers and promises were made at the time that necessary funding to support the amalgamation and to improve the facility would be put in place. The school accommodates students from counties Longford and Roscommon, covering a catchment area of up to ten parishes. Children travel up to 14 miles to the school.

The closure of Newtownforbes school last year by the former Minister for Education and Science resulted in many of the students of that school having to be accommodated in Lanesboro community college. Accommodation at the school is poor and dangerous and vast repairs are necessary. The former Minister for Education and Science promised much in 2001 but delivered nothing. He promised a cheque by return of post but that did not happen. There are 260 pupils enrolled at the school. An inspection by a health and safety officer from McCarthy Safety Limited pointed out that fire extinguishers were out of date and unusable with some being in a poor state of repair having been installed in the 1960s when the school was built. Fire extinguishers are important safety equipment which should be available to all schools.

The school has no fire alarm system, another serious matter. There is a great deal of overcrowding in many classrooms at certain times. The school is fitted with round plugs which are illegal particularly in woodwork and metalwork rooms. There is asbestos in many parts of the roof resulting in sections of the school being dangerous and hazardous. Such problems have been addressed in almost all other schools to date. However, Lanesboro remains on the hind-tit in terms of funding for its refurbishment. It was obvious to the inspector from the amount of dust in the woodwork room that there is no permanent dust extraction facility in place. Wall mounted fan heaters tended to blow the dust around the room, an illegal practice nowadays. Also, the fluorescent lights do not work given the school has not been rewired since the 1960s. The electricity system is a fire hazard. There may be serious implications if funding is not provided to facilitate refurbishment of Lanesboro community college.

As I stated earlier many of the sockets are the previously used three-pin round type which do not have an in-built protection facility. When I visited the school recently I discovered that the fuse board covers were open, that light switch covers were missing and that many were tied together with tape.