Primary teachers threaten strike over building issue

Primary schools face industrial action after the October mid-term break when a teachers' union will step up its campaign to fast-track school building projects.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) confirmed today its executive meeting in early October would outline details of the proposed action, which will include strikes.

As part of its campaign, the INTO executive is drawing up a report which will include a list of the schools requiring the most urgent remedial work or replacement with the new buildings and also a plan of campaign.

According to the INTO, a categorisation scheme introduced by the Department of Education and Science does not include all schools with sub-standard buildings.

The report will also include the responses of TDs to the action, almost every one of whom will have been contacted before the meeting. The campaign is timed to coincide with the preparation of the Budget in December.

A spokesman for the union told ireland.comthe problem was one of funding and on safety grounds it cannot be ignored any longer. "Once the Department's building unit gets the funding they deliver top-quality schools and buildings. The problem is funding, and that rests with Charlie McCreevy."

Teachers remain angry at the stalling of building plans for hundreds of schools earlier this year due to Government spending cutbacks after the General Election.

Under this year's school building programme, €342.9 million is being spent on 146 large-scale projects at primary and post-primary level. An additional 433 schools will "benefit in some way from the capital programme", according to the Department.

However, according to its own estimates, up to €3 billion is required to modernise all the existing primary and post-primary schools. Just under half of this sum is required for the post-primary sector.

The INTO spokesman confirmed that the union would be co-ordinating its actions with other groups including the Tuismitheoirí/Teagascóirí Le Chéile, which is lobbying for improved school buildings.

The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey is currently discussing a five-year budget to improve school buildings in "a planned and coherent manner" with the Department of Finance.

According to Mr Dempsey, the Department of Education could then be specific about when a school project would go to tender, on what date construction would start and when the project would be finished.