Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to share my time with Senator Ulick Burke. This issue concerns Cahergal national school near Tuam, County Galway. Before the last general election several schools in north Galway sought improvements and some wanted new developments. Under the pilot or devolved programme many of those schools and their boards of management have had their wishes fulfilled and work is in progress in several areas such as Briarfield, Newtown and Barnaderg national school.

Cahergal national school has had a serious problem because of increased numbers and the board of management cannot proceed with the devolved programme until it gets extra lands. Land is available beside the school which would be very suitable for purchase and development. The school enrolment has increased over recent years and the figures for next year also show an increase as the school is near Tuam and many students from the greater catchment area are travelling there. It has an excellent staff but sadly the buildings are not in good condition. We have had several meetings there and we were hopeful when the devolved programme came about that this school would qualify. It qualified, but it is a catch-22 situation in that they need land for further development. I hope that the Minister can set the record straight here in the House regarding the acquisition of those lands and allow the devolved programme or pilot scheme to continue.

Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Kitt for sharing time with me. I wholeheartedly support his proposal. I raised this issue approximately two years ago, and Senator Kitt shared time with me on that occasion too.

This time around, it is important to highlight the fact that, in previous years, when anything was attempted regarding an upgrade of the school at Cahergal, the expansion of the site was the stumbling block. On this occasion, the land is available, and it is of the utmost importance that the Department move quickly to take that on board, acquire the land and move on to the next stage. It will never happen unless additional land is bought for expansion.

The site, as Senator Kitt has said, is overcrowded, cluttered and dangerous because of the numbers of students, the criss-crossing between prefabs and the only open recreational area available to the pupils. The board of management, principal, staff and parents' groups have made a tremendous effort to move the matter on. On various occasions, they thought they were near to a solution and, on one occasion, thought they would move to a new greenfield site. However, the Department said the best strategy was to expand on site.

Now that the opportunity to do so has presented itself, it is of the utmost importance that the Department moves quickly, purchases the land and carries out the necessary expansion work to the school which is under tremendous pressure as the area is one of increasing population and pupil intake. That is likely to continue because of the expansion of Galway city into the area. It is a new growth centre if ever there was one, and there is a great need for school places. Many of the facilities that other schools have are denied the pupils of the area, such as computer rooms, general purpose rooms, and the other support mechanism spaces required in modern education. It is important that the Minister impresses on his colleague the importance of moving quickly to acquire the site.

Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)
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I thank the Senator for affording me the opportunity to outline to the House the proposals of the Department of Education and Science regarding the proposed development at Cahergal national school, Tuam, County Galway.

The board of management of Cahergal national school, Tuam, applied to the Department of Education and Science for the provision of four new classrooms to replace existing facilities. In view of the prospective difficulties in providing an optimum range of accommodation in the context of the current site, which measures 0.5 acres, the board of management was requested to explore the possibility of procuring additional land adjacent to the existing site for the purpose of facilitating an extension.

In March 2000, the school authorities confirmed that none of the surrounding lands was available for sale and formally applied for the provision of a new school on a greenfield site. Following a meeting between representatives of Cahergal national school and the Department of Education and Science, the property management section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of the Department for site acquisitions, was requested to investigate the possibility of acquiring a site for the school. I understand that a suitable site has now been identified and that negotiations are at an advanced stage.

The school authorities have also decided to partake in the Department's small schools initiative, which allows small primary schools to undertake building and modernisation works on a devolved basis. I thank the Senator once again for raising this matter in the House.

Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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I would like to raise an issue regarding Scoil Mhuire in Dristernan. Looking at the name of the place, one would be tempted to pronounce it with the stress on the second vowel, but the proper pronunciation near Gleneely in north Inishowen rhymes with "Tristran". This issue was brought to my attention by a colleague of mine, Councillor Bernard McGuinness of north Inishowen.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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He is a fine councillor.

Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and concur with his remark. The councillor is certainly working on the ground and knows the local issues, one of which is this national school which has sought very basic improvements to the standards of facilities and infrastructure for the past 20 years. To be honest, the board of management and staff may have sat back, waited and hoped that it would happen eventually but, 20 years later, their dissatisfaction, frustration and anger have become intolerable. The infrastructural deficits include the following: children falling on damp and slippery floors; teachers complaining of inadequate toilet facilities; the lack of a proper staff room; a small, poky cold toilet shared by eight adults; no space in the small, poky staff room; and little storage space. If there is supposed to be an emphasis on exercise and health, it is not there in this case.

I will not delay the Minister much further regarding this very simple issue. The staff and board of management of the school have been waiting too long. I know that this is not the Minister's brief, but I know that he will be conveying my concerns to the Minister for Education and Science. The procrastination at a departmental level is unbelievable. The matter has been passed from pillar to post. It has been promised and approved. The extension has had planning permission for the past three years, but now the school has been asked to review the planning application and make changes. Funding was approved and granted in 1999, but the school is still on the bottom rung of the ladder.

As I said, the school is in a small, rural area in north Inishowen. The people who live there believe in rural communities and the rural way of life. It is possible that they do not shout loudly enough, and perhaps the matter should be highlighted here. I know of many schools that have waited three, four, five or six years, but this school has waited 20 years. For justice to be served, the matter must be addressed. The issue that always crops up is the Department of Education and Science. The waiting game whereby building programmes are put on the long finger must be seriously addressed.

Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)
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On behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, I thank the Senator for affording me the opportunity to outline to this House the proposals of his Department regarding the proposed refurbishment and extension project at Scoil Mhuire national school, Dristernan, Gleneely, Inishowen, County Donegal.

The school authorities applied to the Department for the provision of an extension and the refurbishment of the existing building. I am pleased to inform the Senator that a full design team has been appointed and the architectural planning process has commenced. The introduction of a multi-annual funding process for school building projects requires a revised approach to how projects are scheduled through the design process and on to tender and construction. To maintain a smooth flow of projects and ensure that the optimum number of projects is ready to go to tender and construction at any given time, the Department of Education and Science will progress on a priority basis those projects at an early design stage such as Scoil Mhuire. The Department will provide further details of those projects and notify the schools concerned in the new year. In this way, the Department seeks to create sustained momentum in the schools building programme to match the Government's multi-annual funding commitment.

I thank the Senator once again for raising the matter in the House.