A group of Dublin schoolchildren forced to attend class in a building-site hut yesterday protested outside the Department of Education and asked for improved conditions at their school.
The pupils, from the Gaelscoil Bharra primary school in Cabra, protested after an application for funding to provide a schoolroom for a resource teacher was continually turned down.
School principal Seán Ó Donaile said the school was forced to spend €15,000 to purchase a hut from a building site in order to facilitate some of the school's needs.
"It's just not good enough. A building hut is being used as a library, store room and meeting room," said Mr Ó Donaile.
The school may now be forced to purchase a secondhand caravan, to be used as a classroom when the new term begins in September and a second resource teacher will be employed. Some 230 children attend the school.
The Department of Education said yesterday that while the school was not successful in its application for a new resource room, the department is currently conducting an overall review of the primary educational infrastructure in the area.
The purpose of the review will be to ascertain the likely demand for pupil places in the medium to long term and to ensure that existing provision is maximised to meet this demand, the department said in a statement.