Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That track needs to be finished. Its completion is important. I have been a supporter of that cycle track.

Without being too parochial, I will ask Dr. May about St. Fergal's College, Rathdowney. We met the Minister for Education yesterday about the school's need for a school hall. It was built as a vocational school in 1937. It covers the southern third of Laois and there is no indoor sports hall in that part of the county. There is a general purpose hall that is too small. The boundaries for physical activity reach to within 9 in. of the concrete block wall. It lacks proper ventilation and is totally unsafe. It is used for dining. The teenagers in the secondary school eat their lunch there so if people come in afterwards to play games, there may be spills on the floor, which would have obvious consequences. That school has no indoor space for physical activity. Approximately 10% of secondary schools lack such facilities but in 60% of those cases, the students have access to community facilities in the same village or town. I want to talk about the use of public funding. Other schools have an alternative to on-site facilities. There are few schools in a position similar to St. Fergal's College. The nearest facilities are in Portlaoise, which would mean a round trip of 70 km or more. That is not practical. The Department of Education does not have an allocation for halls but it is trying to install autism spectrum disorder, ASD, units and extra classrooms because of population increases. We are looking down the line. However, one of the things discussed at the meeting was the possibility of collaborating with another body. I am asking Dr. May these questions because she is the CEO of Sport Ireland. The school in question is coeducational. It needs a sports hall, as does the area. I do not want to speak for the education and training board, ETB, but it is very good in terms of community involvement. It would be open to a collaborative project for community use in the wider Rathdowney, Ballacolla and Borris-in-Ossory areas in the south of Laois. What can Sport Ireland do in that case?