Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I also welcome the Minister to the House and thank her for taking this matter. The school in question is St. Catherine's national school, Aughrim, Ballinasloe, County Galway. The school has run into a difficulty causing an additional delay, although the school authorities agree with the Department officials that it is necessary.

St. Catherine's national school was built in 1949 and has had no major refurbishment since. It is a five teacher school with an enrolment of over 120 students. Local research by the board of management and parents clearly indicates that the area is rapidly expanding. The school has three prefabricated buildings, two of which are classrooms and one which provides for special needs students, one of whom in particular is autistic and requires special care. There are several children with special needs and there are two resource teachers, in addition to the five full-time teachers, with another teacher supporting.

The first application was made by the school in 1996. It was asked to prepare plans in 2000 but it did not hear anything back from the Department despite numerous requests and letters. In March 2005, it was allocated money through the devolved scheme to add two classrooms to replace two of the prefabricated structures. The school prepared plans and secured planning permission. Naturally, however, additional funding was required. The school inspector advised that the school needed a major extension, not what was on offer under the devolved allocation. The authorities met with Department officials and agreed that what was being proposed would not be of any benefit to the school and the Department advised them to withdraw from that scheme and to look for a larger extension with six new classrooms.

As a result of that the authorities are now back in the Department files as a band 2 application, awaiting further developments in light of proposed housing developments. It was a worthwhile proposal by Department officials and accepted as such by the board of management, principal and parents' council. They do not want, however, to go through the same long process again. Having started in 1996, ten years later they are at band 2.

I have been asked to request the fast-tracking of the project in view of the overcrowding in both the regular and prefabricated classrooms which is likely to get worse in the next two years. The school authorities want every possible effort to be made by the Department to ensure there will not be a long wait for the people of this historic location.