Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand that a great deal of investment is going into schools in different areas. This school, however, has not benefited from much of this investment. As the Minister said, this school property is split into two campuses along the Dublin Road. It is on a very inappropriate site for a modern school building that has more than 500 pupils, and this figure is growing. The answer everyone sees from all aspects of this problem, when they look at the situation, is to build a new school on a greenfield site somewhere else. The current site would then become available for housing or other projects in the town. This is the answer to this situation. It must be recognised and done as fast as possible.

I know the Minister met with representatives of the school and that this assessment was carried out. The technical report pointed out where there was asbestos and leaks in the roof. The classroom sizes are tiny for the number of pupils the school is trying to deal with. The teachers and the other school staff are under great stress. We have a situation where there is talk of new modular buildings being constructed, which is welcome, but these are being built on the places where children need to play. This area is now being taken up as well. We must recognise that patching this situation on an ongoing basis is not going to work. There needs to be a plan to build a new school in the town as quickly as possible.

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