I raise the very serious accommodation difficulties that Coachford National School is experiencing. The school has done everything asked of it. The board, principal, staff and parents have all worked together to accommodate significant growth in pupil numbers, but they are now at a point where there is simply nowhere left to go. The numbers tell the story. The school had approximately 109 students in 2020, and it is expected that there will be 171 pupils in September. That is an increase of more than 57% in just seven years. Two additional teaching posts have been sanctioned by the Department. That is an acknowledgement that the growth is real and substantial. The difficulty is that although the teachers have been sanctioned, the accommodation has not followed. The school has used every available space. An SEN room is being used as a classroom, a staff room has become an SEN room, a general-purpose room is being used for multiple purposes and there is no spare capacity left in the building. The school sought approval for temporary prefab classrooms onsite and that request was refused. The appeal was also unsuccessful, yet the underlying problem still exists. The children are still there, the teachers are still needed and September is still coming. Coachford is a growing village and community. Its catchment area has a population of approximately 2,500 people and we have seen significant housing developments in recent years. The Cnoic Eoin development has brought new families into the area and the Vicars Glebe development has already been occupied, with further phases progressing. There will be up to 70 homes in that. At the same time, Ceann Scríbe is nearing completion. That is 26 homes that will shortly be occupied, with further phases prepared afterwards. Those families are going to become part of the community and will also be looking for school places. An important piece of the puzzle is the new wastewater treatment plant in Coachford. For so many places, capacity is a limiting factor, but in Coachford that plant has been put in place and it allows spare capacity for housing and future development growth. If we want villages like Coachford to grow, families to settle there and rural communities to thrive, the public infrastructure has to grow with them. School accommodation cannot be an afterthought. What is concerning me is that the solution proposed by the Department is the conversion of the school's general purpose room into a classroom. The school has made it abundantly clear that that room is a central hub in the building. It serves as the school's only indoor PE area and assembly space. The school has raised concerns about circulation, accessibility and suitability of the room as a classroom. The Department has indicated that rented accommodation could be considered where suitable premises were available. The difficulty is there are no suitable premises nearby. The practical and commonsensical solution is about getting temporary accommodation on the site. We are not looking for anything exceptional or extravagant. It is about providing a safe and suitable classroom for children already attending the school. I ask that the Department revisit the case, work with the school and find a solution that reflects the reality on the ground. The Department has sanctioned the teachers. It now needs to provide the classrooms.

Sentiment score: 0.07

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the fact that the permanent building project is progressing. There is quite a bit of work to do on that. The difficulty remains in the here and now. The fundamental question is where these children will be accommodated while everybody is waiting for that building to be put in place. The school has already stretched every available space in the existing building and nobody could reasonably say the board has not done everything possible to make things work. Enrolment in the school is not levelling off; it is continuing to increase. We have seen substantial growth in recent years, new homes occupied in Cnoc Eoin and Vicar's Glebe, a further 26 under construction and nearing completion in Ceann Scríbe, and additional homes planned. The infrastructure is there, with the wastewater treatment plant, to support further growth. Everything is pointing in the direction of further population growth and demand for school places. An off-site solution would be really difficult. The area around the school in Coachford already faces challenges around traffic, parking and pedestrian access. Splitting classes across locations would create additional difficulties for families, pupils and staff. A prefab classroom on the school grounds is a practical, sensible and proven solution. It keeps the school community together, provides safe accommodation and bridges the gap until the permanent extension is developed. The Department has already recognised the need for additional teachers. I ask that it recognise the need for accommodation of those teachers and the children. I urge the Minister of State to engage with the school and seek a workable interim solution before it becomes a bigger problem for the community. The children are enrolled and the teachers are approved, but the accommodation still is not there.

Sentiment score: 0.18