Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Tááthas orm go bhfuil na cainteanna fós ar siúl agus go mbeidh deireadh fóntach leo le cúnamh Dé. Is the Minister aware of the huge burden on many families in new areas? I can give many examples from personal experience. For example, I know a family who, having moved to Balbriggan, put their child on a train from Balbriggan to Malahide to continue at their old school. A family in Blanchardstown cannot move to Balbriggan because of a lack of school capacity, even though the local authority made a house available there. Another family in Drogheda has to drive to Malahide every morning to find a school place. When the Minister says that the need for provision should be taken into account, can I take it that priority will not only be given when local authorities make the initiative but that the matter will also be prioritised by her Department?

Is she aware that, in the absence of action by the Department, developers and builders, who are obviously in the business of making profits, move in to offer school sites as carrots or to exert pressure on local authorities to undertake rezoning beyond what might be considered prudent in the development plan? Is she happy that schools are used in such scenarios as bargaining chips or a modern day and perhaps more ethical equivalent of the brown envelope? That in itself should give the Department cause to consider seriously the need for simultaneous provision.

With regard to the Minister's claim that a transparent process is in place, will she put a time limit on that process? A long process becomes meaningless and forces families to ask developers for help in providing sites for schools. Does she accept that education facilities should not be thus provided because it is bad for development in general? Will the Department be proactive rather than await proposals from South Dublin or Fingal County Council?

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