James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy de Valera, on behalf of Ballymahon vocational school and myself, for taking this matter. Ballymahon, County Longford, is a town that has seen significant housing development in recent years. Current building schemes will bring an excess of 600 new dwelling units, considerably increasing the demand for school places in the locality. This will put an even greater than heretofore pressure on Ballymahon vocational school, which has a proud tradition of serving the community in providing first class facilities for its students and the increased pupil intake.

Currently, the school is at stage 3, architectural planning stage. It urgently needs to progress to stage 4 of the building programme. Ballymahon school makes every effort to maintain a learning environment that is as agreeable and attractive as possible and the students' commitment to this approach can be seen in their care for their school environment. The many achievements of the school have been accomplished despite the inadequacies of the school facilities.

The students deserve all the help we can give them to achieve their full potential. This is hampered by a school building in serious need of refurbishment. It is a building that falls well short of safety legislation requirements for a learning environment. Fittings in the building are obsolete and inadequate, electric wiring is unsafe and woodwork is decayed, with extensive dry rot. There is an urgent need to convert a room into a general purpose room. The school computer room has serious safety problems with unsafe electric conduit and wiring.

The woodwork room was constructed in 1963 and is urgently in need of an equipment up-date and refurbishment. The electric wiring in this room is also unsafe as there is no isolating switch. The bench-saw is also unsafe with inadequate guard and dust extraction. The home economics room has an obsolete solid fuel cooker, obsolete furniture and fittings and unsafe power sockets hanging form the ceiling that are a health and safety risk. The poor hygiene levels caused by the inadequacies of the boys' toilets are a cause of great worry. Drains present a continual problem and the floor is unhygienic. There is no wheelchair access to these toilets and given the state of the fittings and the floor, it is impossible to keep them in a suitable condition.

The unsafe condition of the science room is extremely worrying. The poorly equipped room is a health and safety risk, with gas, water and electricity controls within a 30 cm. radius of each other and with only an on-off control switch on the gas supply. Wheelchair access to the school building is extremely difficult. There is no wheelchair access to the first floor and the health and safety officer has condemned the building as a fire hazard with no fire exit in place.

How does the Minister of State think the parents feel knowing that their valued children, for whom they want only the best, are being educated in such a risk filled environment? The students and their parents deserve better. They have a right to a safe, healthy and secure physical environment. I strongly urge the Minister of State to ensure this is provided for them. I recently met the principal, Mr. John O'Donnell, and Mr. Brendan Quigley of the board of management who pleaded with me to raise this matter and bring it to the attention of the Minister to ensure the refurbishment progresses to a satisfactory stage as soon as possible. I am sure the Minister of State must agree from what she has heard that there is need for urgent work to be carried out at this school.