Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will cut right to the chase as I explained earlier. Three years ago the previous Government ensured that a commitment was made in the five year schools' capital programme to build a new school at Whitecross national school in Julianstown. The Minister of State will be aware that the Louth and east Meath areas are one of the fastest growing areas in the country. The demographics are such that the schools' capital programme initiated by the then Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn, ensured that 10% of all of the new school projects in the State would be developed in that area. Apart from the new school developments, objectively, "ancient schools" and I use that term advisedly, ancient schools such as Whitecross national school in Julianstown needed to be replaced entirely.

The conditions at Whitecross national school are appalling, they are deplorable. Teachers battle to teach in prefabricated classrooms that are too hot in the summer and far too cold in the winter. Mould appears on the ceilings and on the walls. There have been rodent infestations with all of the related health and safety risks. There is no hot water in the bathroom for children to wash their hands after using the toilets. The cold water is far too cold for people to safety put their hands under the tap. To put it bluntly, the school should probably be condemned.

It is long past time that the new building was commenced and that the Department indicated a timeline for the commencement and completion of the work. The time for excuses has long past. The school is not fit for purpose. In my opinion - and I am not prone to exaggeration - this is a health and safety nightmare, an accident waiting to happen. The patience and tolerance of pupils, teachers and staff has worn extremely thin, particularly in recent months. All they want for Christmas, as one young person told me, is their new school. Children have told me they would forego their toys if it was a case that a new school would be developed soon. We secured the resources for the new school in 2013-14 under the then capital programme. The then Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, announced a new capital programme last year. A significant number of new schools have been built in the area in recent times that, in a sense, leapfrogged Whitecross national school. It is high time that the bureaucratic foot dragging that is delaying this project is brought to an end.

When will the project commence? What is the timeline for the commencement and completion of the project and when does the Minister envisage that children from Julianstown in east Meath will be taught in a building that they, the staff and the parents deserve?