Gaelscoil staff and pupils suffer ‘Dickensian conditions’

PREFABS in one Dublin school are costing almost €100,000 in rent per annum, according to the school’s principal who has been seeking permanent accommodation for 13 years.

Students of Gaelscoil na Camóige in Clondalkin, Co Dublin last week protested outside the Dáil in an effort to highlight what their principal Ultan Mac Mathúna claims are “atrocious conditions” in the school.

“Housed entirely in old, run-down pre-fabricated buildings which were bought second-hand by our landlord 13 years ago, our school is a disgrace to the Government, successive Ministers at the Department of Education and Science and to a society that stands by and accepts this for our children,” he said.

The two large and two small prefabs which accommodate 220 students are unsuitable and do not have adequate ventilation or lighting, according to the principal.

The recommended size for the teaching area of a school classroom according to the Department of Education is 76 square metres. However, the average size of the teaching area of the classrooms in Gaelscoil na Camóige is considerably less, and measures just 46.5 square metres.

Mr Mac Mathúna said that if the Department of Education had bought a site and built a school in time, the pupils and staff alike would not have to suffer “Dickensian conditions”.

“Of the €100,000 paid by the department every year, we have to contribute €3,154 which is money we could be using for other resources needed in the school,” he said.

“The six-figure sum just covers the rent. We have to pay a caretaker to keep patching these prefabs up and maintaining them.”

Last year, the Department of Education wrote to the Office of Public Works informing them of their efforts to secure a site for the school.

The department is still in negotiations in acquiring a site for the construction of a permanent school building.