Minister Coffey Opens New €1 million State-of-the-Art Facility at Waterpark N.S.

Fine Gael Waterford Minister Paudie Coffey was today delighted to attend and open the new Waterpark National School building in Waterford City. Commenting on the event Minister Coffey stated:

“Today, the upgrade of this facility is a prominent step forward for the teachers, the parents in this community, and of course the current 238 students of this school. Waterpark N.S. was started in 2001, in a building which had been a Christian brothers monastery. Over the years many improvements were made and four prefab classrooms were installed.

“However, the opening of this extension today, which replaces all prefabs, and includes four new state-of-the-art classrooms and two resource rooms, will ensure that the educational opportunities for the students of Waterpark N.S. will not be limited by unsafe and outdated conditions.  I believe that the fate of our country’s future depends on the education of our youth, therefore we have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. This investment at Waterpark N.S. once again demonstrates Fine Gael’s intentions to accommodate our present and future generations with comfortable teaching environments.

“The new upgrades also include a new staff room, a new principal’s office and a new secretary’s office. I would like to congratulate Chairperson of the Board of Management Dick Hickey, Principal Ms Orla Collins, Acting-Principal Ms Cathy Power, and the countless others involved in making this new facility a reality. The expansion was funded by the Department of Education and Skills under the Rented Prefab Replacement Initiative 2012. The total amount of funding received for the completion of this project was €1,017,000.

“This government has, over the last number of years, moved to eradicate prefabs from the educational environment.  We have provided hundreds of millions of euros to improve the learning and teaching environment. Since the beginning of 2012, we have invested more than €1.25 billion in school buildings. We have built 102 new schools and completed 71 large-scale school extensions.

“For learning to flourish, the right conditions must be in place and this government is emphatically committed to cultivating those learning conditions and whetting the appetite for knowledge of today’s youth – our future. It is this government’s aim to establish a stronghold of state-of-the-art learning facilities to ensure the momentum of our country is secure with the future generation of doctors, lawyers, accountants, builders, entrepreneurs, academics and teachers, that are today sitting in these very buildings and classrooms.

“There have been new school buildings and classrooms delivered across Waterford City and County; including Portlaw, Kilmacthomas, Dungarvan, Aglish, Tramore and here in Waterford City. It is clear from these numerous and consistent development projects that Fine Gael firmly believes an investment in education and knowledge will be the real safeguard of our country.”

—Ends—