Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I recently visited Ballylanders primary school and met the principal and other staff members. There was extreme disappointment that they were unsuccessful in their application for the grant for national schools under the small schools scheme 2007. Ballylanders is a fast-growing community which in recent times has seen a rapid expansion of staff in all three of its local factories. Part of the workforce includes foreign nationals, mainly Polish and Lithuanian workers. Construction is buoyant in the area, which has led to many service-led firms in the area.

Recent extra planning applications for 83 private houses and for the development of seven acres for a commercial and industrial enterprise park will give a new impetus to Ballylanders in the future. There is also an application for a 60-bedroom nursing home and 40 retirement homes. All these developments will lead to an expansion of the population and attract more non-nationals to the area.

The school has experienced an increased enrolment of 17% since 2005 and now has 75 pupils. The projected enrolment for 2007 is 87, which will entitle the school to an extra teacher appointment. Ballylanders national school is a three-classroom building constructed in 1893. Two of the classrooms have dry rot and it has very high ceilings. In 1998-99 an extension for indoor toilets and a staff room were added to the rear of the school. A corridor was taken off the middle classrooms to facilitate access to the toilet block, which has resulted in a smaller, misshaped classroom with three doors leading from it. Two open into other classrooms and the other into the new corridor. The parents are concerned that the classrooms constitute a health and safety hazard because school bags obstruct entrances and exits and they have expressed their concern to the board of management.

The school now has five non-national children on the roll and in January 2007 appointed a language teacher for one hour daily. This person works in a disused prefab, formerly an outdoor toilet block dating from pre-1980. The resource teacher, who is shared, works in the same prefab. The Department of Education and Science is leasing a portakabin and paying 95% of the cost to accommodate a school-based learning support teacher. Ballylanders is located at the side of a busy main road and it is essential that all pupils attending the outdoor classes be accompanied at all times.

The school has been designated as qualifying under the DEIS rural scheme. To help it overcome some of the disadvantages confronting it, it is vital the necessary accommodation be provided to carry out the principles of the revised curriculum effectively. The board of Ballylanders national school has applied to the Department of Education and Science for a permanent extension to the school, as any further portakabins would hinder the health and safety of the pupils, increase the workload of the staff and reduce the green area of the field.

I appeal to the Minister to consider the school's appeal favourably. It is imperative the Department grants approval for this much-needed extension. A development at the school will leave it well-positioned in the future to cater for the expanding number of pupils attending. Failure to proceed now will have serious implications for the future expansion of the school. I sincerely hope the Minister responds with good news.