I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter this evening. I am pleased the Minister of State, Deputy Mary White, is present to answer in the debate and I trust she will have some good news for us. Kilcredan national school was built in the 1970s. It was an amalgamation of three small primary schools. The policy at the time was to amalgamate small primary schools. It is a fantastic school. Some ten years ago in 2000, it was agreed with the Department of Education and Science that there was a need for an extension because very little work had been done in the 30 years since the school was put together. A design team was appointed and a plan submitted. The plans were examined in 2005, some five years later and the matter has been ongoing for some time. In the meantime, the people in the area raised €220,000 to buy land and provide a car park for the extension. The people have not been found wanting and they are not coming with their hands out. They have been working very hard to raise funds for this project.
They seek permission to move to the next stage, that is, to allow for planning permission, tenders and construction. This is what they seek from the Minister and the Department. There will be 256 students in the school next September. I realise the Minister of State is from a rural area. This school was built in the centre of a parish. Three primary schools were amalgamated from two villages, Ballymacoda and Ladysbridge. There was no agreement on where the school should go so they put it in the centre but that solution worked. It is an outstanding rural school.
The demographics for the coming five years inform us there will be further increases in enrolment. At present, half the school is in prefabs. The plan is to build an all-purpose hall, a library, a staff room and 12 classrooms in total. It is not a great deal to ask for. This has been ongoing for ten years and the people in the area have worked remarkably hard. They have gone over and above the call of duty in this case in raising funds and in meeting the Department more than half way on the cost of this project. I hope the Minister of State can come up with something positive this evening or, if not, that she can go back to the Department and impress on the staff there the importance, urgency and the need to match the goodwill of the people in this case. I look forward to the Minister of State's response with interest.