The principal of a secondary school in Co Kerry has asked the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, to tell him how he can stop rats entering old wooden buildings.
Mr Ciarán Begley, principal of Meánscoil an Leith-Triúigh in Cloghane, said he had 19 witnesses to the visit of a large rat during a pre-Leaving Cert and pre-Junior exam in the school last week.
"If he [Mr Dempsey\] has a way of stopping the rats coming into a building with holes, please let us know," Mr Begley said yesterday.
It is the only secondary school in the northern part of the Dingle peninsula and is hugely important around Brandon and Castlegregory, according to parents, who have been waiting for a new school for almost six years.
In the Dáil last week, Mr Jimmy Deenihan described the condition of the school as "one of the worst in the country."
The prefabs were rat infested and had asbestos tiling on the roof, the fuse box had recently blown up and the heating system was continuously out of order. The toilets were unusable and the pupils were refusing to use them.
Mr Dempsey said he was aware of the serious condition of the school. The building project was at an advanced stage of architectural planning. However, he said: "I do not accept any school should be infested with rats or mice, something that should be easily resolved. The school board of management should make sure it is."
At a weekend Ógra Fianna Fáil conference in Portlaoise, the Minister of State for Education, Mr Brian Lenihan, warned against media reports of "rat-infested" schools and told delegates to be careful of "that kind of tabloid journalism".
Mr Lenihan's spokeswoman said he was objecting to reports of rat-infested schools being used to criticise his department's investment programme.