The Minister for Education, Noel Dempsey must demand emergency funds to end the scandal of sub-standard schools, argues Sean Flynn,Education Editor.

It is one of the great mysteries of modern Irish life. Why must thousands of our schoolchildren continue to endure appalling classroom accommodation in one of the wealthiest states in Europe?

Here's the answer. From a total education budget of over €5 billion, only €147 million is allocated annually to capital projects in primary schools. This is despite decades of under-investment in the sector when local communities were grateful for any kind of accommodation.

To compound the problem, the recent Estimates cut funds for the school-building programme by 4 per cent. By most estimates, this is an effective cut of about 10 per cent when construction industry inflation is factored-in.

In all, there are about 3,300 primary schools in the State. Some of the newer ones - sanctioned in the past five years - are among the best you could encounter, with stunning modern designs and spaciousaccommodation.

The work of the Department's building unit is widely admired, but, with limited funds, it can only achieve so much. It is estimated that the building unit had some involvement with over 1,000 schools last year. This is a commendable effort by the Department, but limited resources means much of the work is of a "patch and mend" variety. The leaky roof might be fixed, but the overall standard of accommodation in hundreds of schools remains grossly inadequate.

There are hundreds of schools across the State that provide a shameful standard of accommodation. The scale of the problem is openly acknowledged.

Former education minister Dr Michael Woods has admitted that after continued under-investment, over decades, many schools are in a poor state of repair. He conceded that substantial funding is required to meet modern health and safety requirements.

"Many of the schools built in the 1970s and 1980s were low-cost, high-maintenance buildings that are now at the end of their natural lives and will have to be rebuilt over the coming years," he said.

With characteristic openness, the current Minister, Noel Dempsey, has acknowledged the scale of the problem. He has also vowed to end the scandal where a judicious word in the ear of some politician can see one school project jump the queue. The plan is to introduce a rolling five-year "School Modernisation Plan" next year, in co-operation with the Department of Finance.

"As far as I am concerned, there will be an open and transparent system," said Dempsey.

It is a commendable initiative, but it deals with only one element of the problem.

The key issue remains the very limited funds which are allocated to primary-school buildings.

Dempsey should not be content to make the system more accountable. He should go back to the Minister for Finance and tell him that he can no longer tolerate a situation where thousands of this State's schoolchildren, their teachers and parents must endure dilapidated buildings, outdoor toilets and leaky roofs.

He should tell his Cabinet colleagues that he is dealing with an emergency. He should demand emergency funding to resolve it.