Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the status of the building project at Ballinspittle national school, which is a small school in a nice village in south County Cork. The school has seen significant development, as has the village of Ballinspittle, over recent years. The school was put on the six-year capital building programme in November 2015, which was a very positive step for Ballinspittle and the entire community. In the original proposal, it was supposed to go to construction in 2017. This is one of the key issues we are fighting for this morning. We want to see this school progressing and we need the project to go to construction in 2017. For the 2017 commitment to be met, it must go through detailed design, planning and tendering this year. It is now March, time is ticking and the need for the school is very important. The site is available. There are at least three and a half acres around the school so there is no issue with the site itself. Numbers in the school have increased. By 2018, 230 pupils will be going to this school. There are two autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classrooms that are a very important part of the school and its ethos.

One of the key issues with the school building is that it is maximised at every level, be it a store room, the general purpose, GP room, the community hall or the hall itself. The GP room is divided in two so there are two resource teachers in that room. As the GP room is taken up with resource teachers, there is no drama or PE in the school. A total of 19 children need sensory space, sensory time and sensory breaks, which are very important. The only way they can get them is to get them in the hallway, which is not appropriate. It is a big issue for the community, the principal and the parents of children in the school. It is a thriving community that will do its utmost for its children. It needs this project to be moved forward. It is in the building programme but time is ticking. It will need another teacher for the academic year starting in 2018. There is no room at the moment for that teacher. If the store room and GP room are being used and if there are children who need to use the hallway for sensory time, there is no capacity at any level to take another teacher in September 2018 so we need this project to be moved forward at pace.

We need a site visit, the project to be progressed and the detailed design, tendering and planning to be done. We need to get somebody on site in order that in the next year and a bit, this school will be completed. In many ways, Ballinspittle national school is like many schools that need upgrades in a very short period because the community has grown rapidly. The special needs aspect is probably the heartbreaking part. We need to move urgently and the matter needs to be prioritised. I realise that the Minister of State is not directly involved but she could give some hope to the community that this project will be progressed in the short term and completed by September 2018 because these are the very strict and tight deadlines that the community is unfortunately under.