The INTO claimed yesterday that the new building programme represented a major victory of the organisation. But both Fine Gael and Labour pointed to the large number of sub-standard schools which must still wait for renovation and repair.
Labour's education spokesperson, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, said that "thousands of pupils and teachers in hundreds of dank, dilapidated and rat-infested schools are being asked to wait for another year at least before renovation". Fine Gael's education spokesperson, Ms Olwyn Enright, said that the programme is still only "a drop in the ocean", when compared with the number of schools nationally that are in need of new buildings.
The INTO president, Mr Seán Rowley, said the organisation had campaigned for years to highlight the deplorable state of many of the country's primary schools. "The new programme is a clear indication of government intent to tackle a problem that has been unresolved for too long," he said.
"We demanded a recognition of the fact that there was a crisis in primary school accommodation. We demanded greatly increased funding and a five-year plan. All of these objectives have been achieved."
He said the dominant image of primary education for the past year has been of substandard schools. But the new programme means that next year there will be nearly 100 building projects compared with 12 last year.
Ms O'Sullivan said: "Noel Dempsey never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. What about Gortahork National School in Donegal where parents have withdrawn their children from classes due to the rat-infested classrooms and the e-coli levels from raw sewage that spills into the playground? What about Ennis National School where pupils are taught in classrooms covered in damp?"
Fine Gael said the schools which will now receive funding have been "consistently overlooked by the Minister when allocating resources for badly needed new buildings and/or refurbishment. It is also a day of great disappointment for the large number of dilapidated schools that still won't proceed to construction next year", she said
Mr Jim Dorney, general secretary of the TUI, said the fact that "only a small number of post-primary schools will proceed to construction is worrying. Many post-primary schools require repair and are others are long overdue new school buildings, so it is vital that Minister Dempsey acknowledges this and does not focus all his Department's energies and resources on one level of education alone".
