The Department of Education must progress the construction of an extension at Kilcredan National School says Cork East Fine Gael TD, David Stanton. Deputy Stanton comments were made during a special debate he secured on the matter in Dail Eireann last week.
“Kilcredan National School is a very successful primary school. It was built in the 1970s following the amalgamation of three primary schools and very little work has been done to the building since then. The school has about 250 pupils, half of whom are accommodated in prefabs, and serves a large rural catchment area in East Cork, from Ladysbridge to Ballymacoda.
“The need for an extension to the school was first identified 10 years ago. A design team was appointed and their plans were submitted and examined by the Department of Education in 2005 and approved. Since 2005, however, enrolment has increased in the school so an application for a larger extension and refurbishment was submitted and approved in 2007. This will include 4 new classrooms, an all-purpose hall, a library and a staff room.
“The School’s Board of Management have done a huge amount of work themselves to raise funds to ensure the success of this project. With the help of the local community, they have successfully raised €220,000 to buy land and provide a car park for the extension. This is more than half of the cost of the proposed project.
“I share the concern of Kilcredan staff, their board of management and parents of pupils that the current school accommodation whereby half the classes are in prefabs in inadequate. I am very anxious that the extension and refurbishment works are progressed soon. I feel the Department of Education should recognise the huge effort of the school and local people have made to progress the works and speed up the construction of the project.
ENDS
Contact: David Stanton TD, Constituency Office, Tel: 021 4632867
