Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

With other public representatives, including Senator Ulick Burke, I attended a meeting last Monday in St. Catherine's Hall, Aughrim, Ballinasloe, County Galway, concerning St. Catherine's national school. The condition of the school, as outlined at the meeting, is appalling. The school which is 59 years old this year has an enrolment of 120 pupils. Parents and teachers say the school is a health and safety hazard.

A headline in the Connaught Tribune last week read, "School needs a Pied Piper to keep the mice at bay". That is one issue that is causing major concern. Other issues are weeping walls, inadequate ventilation and insulation, overused toilets and sewage coming up in the school yard. For that reason there is great concern that there is not a decision to have a new school in Aughrim.

If the original route of the new N6 motorway had come through Aughrim it would have necessitated demolishing the school. However the route was changed following which the Department said it would repair the school and offered €300,000 under the pilot scheme. That amount would not be adequate to provide what was needed in terms of additional classrooms.

What we need is a new school. I understand the Department will agree to an eight-teacher school. However, as the Department has not asked a technical team to visit the school I hope it will do so in the new few weeks. No decision will be made on progress until there is a visit from the technical team. It is not too much to ask that the technical team visits the school as soon as possible. I realise the Department officials in Tullamore are busy but conditions at this school are the worst any inspector has reported on recently.

Six years ago the school had an enrolment of 60 or 70 pupils. Since then many new houses have been built in Ballinasloe and south Roscommon and many new pupils have enrolled in the school. Little money has been spent by the Department on the school since it was built in 1948. As explained at the meeting, there is great difficulty in providing services for special needs children in the classrooms. The school has three classrooms, three Portakabins to accommodate five mainstream teachers. When I was teaching I never saw a school with such small over-crowded classrooms which is a health and safety hazard.

I hope the Minister of State can report progress on this school and that conditions will improve for students and teachers. A very active parents committee succeeded in getting 200 people into St. Catherine's hall last Monday to complain about the way in which the school has been neglected and the need for a resolution. I hope the Minister of State has some good news.