A leading insurance company has castigated conditions at a Limerick primary school and warned it may no longer provide cover for grossly inadequate accommodation.
St Kieran's, located in one of Limerick's most socially disadvantaged areas, has leaking sewers and its school yard is in danger of subsidence.
The principal of the school, which serves the Southhill area, said the stench in the some of the classrooms would "have you on your knees". Mr Kevin Haugh said the 30-year-old school represented an urgent risk to health and safety.
Church and General, the leading insurance company for primary schools, has written to the school warning that insurance cover can no longer be guaranteed.
The letter states that it is a "meaningless exercise to list all the defects in the school such as leaking sewers and plumbing, subsiding floors and yards. Suffice it to say that this building is not suitable for use as a school."
Church and General, which first raised concerns about the school four years ago, said the situation, instead of improving, had since deteriorated.
It pointed out that the unacceptable condition of the school meant its board of management could no longer fulfil its duty of care to both staff and its 135 pupils.
The Department of Education acknowledged yesterday that the school was in a poor state of repair and some temporary accommodation would have to be provided if the insurers refused to provide cover.
A spokesman said the Department had long been aware of the problems. It had provided €90,000 in emergency support in the past two years in addition to the annual €10,000 maintenance grant.
It had also drawn up designs for a new school and had proposed an amalgamation with an adjoining girls school. However, these proposals had been unacceptable locally.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said last night that this kind of funding represented "a drop in the ocean given the scale of the problems".
Church and General has reserved the right to provide further cover unless significant improvements are made immediately.
Its intervention is a further embarrassment to the Department of Education. In recent month, scores of other dilapidated schools have complained to the Health and Safety Executive in an attempt to secure a refurbishment programme or a new school from the Department.
Last night, the INTO said the unprecedented intervention by a leading insurance company "exposed the full extent of the scandal of primary school buildings".
Its general-secretary, Mr John Carr, said there was now "a national emergency which requires an emergency response".
He called on the Minister, Mr Dempsey, to return to the Cabinet table and demand fresh funds to alleviate the crisis.
The INTO wants to see a new school modernisation fund with guaranteed resources to address the crisis where hundreds of schools require urgent attention.
The Government Estimates for this year cut the school-building programme by 4 per cent.
About €150 million of the total annual education budget of over €5 billion allocated to the school-building programme is allocated to primary schools.
In December, The Irish Times published a list showing that work on almost 400 schools had been delayed because of spending cuts. Some of these are on the INTO's "black-list", which includes some of the most dilapidated schools in the State.