Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan, to the House. I hoped the Minister for Education and Science would be here, but I am sure Deputy Brennan will pass on my comments to her.

Ardattin national school was a small two-teacher school but following an explosion in attendance it now has three teachers and has consequently applied for a devolved grant to build on a new unit.

I compliment the Department of Education and Science on the trend it is following to move away from horrible prefab buildings. I was delighted to see from a parliamentary question reply that the Department only spends 5% of its budget on prefabs. While prefabs may be a short-term solution, they turn into a long-term problem. I taught in a prefab and found it unsatisfactory in terms of ventilation, etc. When I was teaching in a prefab in a Dublin school, my first job each morning was to empty the mouse-traps.

Ardattin is a beautiful village in County Carlow with a proud record in the Tidy Towns competition. The school was offered a prefab by the Department, but it felt it would be unsuitable and take away from the overall appearance of the village. The school is beside a beautiful church and has done much work on its grounds. It has put in a basketball court and added a staffroom at its own expense. It was looking forward to getting a devolved grant to enable it to add on two extra classrooms that would blend in with the existing building but, unfortunately, that has not happened.

I appreciate the school was offered a prefab, but that would not be satisfactory to the school or the community particularly in view of the work done in improving the overall appearance of the village. I appeal to the Minister to reverse the decision and provide the money to build a permanent solution to the current problem that will enhance the village.