Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Cussen and congratulate him on his appointment. It is a flagship project. I first heard about it when I was on Dublin City Council. I remember Mr. John Fitzgerald being appointed as chairman of the Grangegorman Development Agency. It is a brilliant location because it ticks all the boxes relating to education, health and community. Deputy Conaghan and I have sat on many regeneration boards, some of which did not work out. The most important thing for any regeneration is information and compromise, because if you cannot combine these you will never get anything done. A willingness to bring communities on board and to work with the people who live in the area is a major factor in the regeneration of any site, be it large or small.

Mr. Cussen spoke about student accommodation in his opening remarks. I live beside Inchicore College of Further Education. Deputy Conaghan taught there for many years. I know the difficulty a lot of students have in trying to find accommodation when they come up from the country, so I am glad to hear about the student accommodation. Mr. Cussen mentioned a figure of about 10,000, which is a lot of students. If I heard him correctly, he spoke about 2,500 students being located on the site. This is one of the main pressure points of any education system, particularly on a site where you have to put so many students together. Perhaps something else should be added, looking at the population and the number of young people going back to education. Accommodation is a major factor in any regeneration.

I have listened to what has been said. For me, regeneration is about the people who live around the site as well. I am glad to hear that people from the community are already involved in the construction and I hope this continues into the future. With any new site - I am talking about the development of the national children's hospital, where I live - there are expectations around development. It brings a new excitement to young people about being able to get involved in health and helps them to look at other avenues they may never have thought about previously. When I look at the area I represent in the north inner city, it is similar. There are many people who may not have had the education they needed to advance into work and education. All of that seems to be changing. This must be part and parcel of a new development.

I will finish off with the topic of new schools versus old schools versus DEIS schools. It is something I have spoken about numerous times here and locally. Parents have a choice to send their children where they wish. In the changing society in which we live, where not everybody is channelled through religious schools, there is a huge need for Educate Together schools across every community. The question of whether this should take away from the local DEIS schools or primary schools is another issue. I have been criticised for saying this, but I would not be a politician if I were not criticised.

My children went to a school with nearly 700 students but that school now has 243 children in it. That is not because the teachers or the school building has changed but because it was designated as a DEIS school. I say that with my hand on heart. It segregates children. Schools will then only take pupils from a certain area, which ruins education for an entire community. In my time, when my children went to the local school, children came from all across the parish but now in the DEIS schools in my area, children are segregated from where they come from. That is the biggest problem about a DEIS school. I know it may not relate to what Deputy Jonathan O'Brien has said but we must be very sensitive in building new schools, whether they are Educate Together facilities or whatever. We must be sensitive as we must consider the population mix in trying to help.

I have always said this and I will keep saying it. Children play together on the street but they are not educated together, which is a very sad reflection on how DEIS schools reflect on communities, especially where I live. I know I have gone a bit off the business but it is nice to meet the witness. I thank him for coming before the committee.