Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

One tackles educational disadvantage by such initiatives as we launched yesterday, to which Deputy McGrath kindly referred. One of the north Dublin city schools, Larkin College, a tremendous college, provides for the local community the sort of service which aims to tackle educational disadvantage. We can tackle it by means of more investment and teachers, by targeting the children most in need by supporting their families and teachers. In this way the disadvantaged get inside the doors of the college to pursue their educational experience and are not merely provided with access to the facility.

We are not talking about a Bill for the Dublin Institute of Technology. This is a Bill for a site, the Grangegorman site. Therefore, any wording inserted which referred to access to a building would mean nothing if one could not achieve access by coming through first or second level education. Merely saying in legislation this should happen will never make it happen. What will make it happen is the activity in which, as Deputy Costello noted, the DIT is involved in working with the community.

Of all the colleges in Ireland, the institutes are the ones offering a particularly wide range of courses, ranging from certificate level in practical skills right through to degree and post-degree level. They offer the whole range of educational opportunities which allows people to gain access at various stages of their educational careers. However, inserting this in legislation which ultimately relates to the development of a site would make no difference.

Deputy Gogarty spoke about setting aside space for the local community. As I said on Committee Stage, this is not legislation for a local sports field, local facilities or the local community. It is legislation for the development of a site, primarily for a third level institution, the Dublin Institute of Technology, and health facilities offering access to local people. Section 11 allows specifically for the inclusion of the entire local community. Therefore, there is no reason to be more specific by means of amendments Nos. 10, 11 and 12. Accordingly, I do not propose to accept them.

Looking at the other regional colleges, in particular the college in Tallaght, well situated in a disadvantaged area, it is important to note that the uptake of places from the local and wider area, as Deputy Crowe will attest, is very positive.

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