A secondary school in Cloghane, Co Kerry, with an outstanding academic record, is forced to operate out of three rain-sodden prefabs, one of which has asbestos.
Parents who have fund-raised have been waiting five years for a new school in the mixed Irish and English speaking area. Although it is not an all-Irish school, the language is widely used at Mean Scoil an Lethtriuigh Cloghane , near Castlegregory.
There is no heating, and only one bathroom for the 78 pupils and their 12 teachers.According to parents, rats are regular visitors to the classrooms. They come in through the broken floor boards.
Parents were promised a new school five years ago. They collected money and were told last year they would be top of the list, according to Mr Michael O'Dowd, a spokesman for the concerned parents group. Now, however, they are in the second band, which means the work will not proceed this year.
The school is the only secondary school in the northern part of the Dingle Peninsula and is hugely important to the locality around Brandon and Castlegregory.
"Last year everyone in the Leaving Cert class went onto third level. It is a school with one of the highest academic achievements in Kerry," Mr O'Dowd said.
As well as leaking roofs, the windows in some of the prefabs are broken and the students are reluctant to use the bathroom because it is in such poor condition.
Parents are highlighting the problem in the hope that it will bring some positive reaction from the Department of Education.