Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for accepting this matter for discussion. I also thank the Minister for coming in to take the debate. I appreciate that.

Kill national school, on the edge of the Naas dual carriageway, was built in 1951 to serve the primary education needs of the picturesque village of Kill and its rural hinterland. It now consists of the old building, an extension to it and a tangle of nine prefab classrooms placed on what should be the play area for the pupils. It caters for a population of some 4,000 people. The school is now in the middle of a virtual building site, one of the largest engineering projects in the country. When that project is finished, the school will be on a traffic island on the newly constructed N7, the road with the heaviest traffic load in the country.

In 1998, the newly appointed principal, Mr. Tom Kinnane, commissioned a study of the educational needs of the area. On foot of that study, the Department agreed in 2000 that a new school was required and instructed the Office of Public Works to purchase a suitable site. Six years on, the OPW has failed to do this. It has done sweet Fanny Adams about the issue.

It is the responsibility and duty of the Minister for Education and Science to ensure the necessary resources are made available to provide schools where required — and we have plenty of resources. The Minister decided in 2000, six years ago, that a new school was required in Kill, but all she has done about it since is to visit the school during the by-election last year and promise another prefab. She has failed to dischargeher duty as far as Kill and its children are concerned.

There are now nine prefabs at the school and one more is needed for this year's intake. That will be the last prefab as no more will fit; there is no room left in the yard for any more. There are 432 pupils in the school and this number will rise to 465 in September 2006 if the prefab is provided.

As a result of the Minister's failure to provide a new school and the continued zoning of land for houses by Fianna Fáil councillors, I have sought a moratorium on further house building in the area until a new school is provided. This request has been rejected and zoning and planning permissions are granted with gay abandon, with no regard for the needs of the children in the area. There is a basic need for a properly designed and built national school in a suitable location. Kill has not got this.

The board of management and the school principal, Mr. Tom Kinnane, have succeeded in the most difficult circumstances in providing first-class education for the children of Kill. However, they have now reached a crisis that even they cannot solve. Simply, there are more children seeking places in Kill national school than can be accommodated. In September of this year, 23 children, some of whom have had places booked in the school since they were born, will be turned away because there is no room. If the requested prefab is not provided, that figure will be over 50 children. Where will these children go in September? In September 2007, at least 47 children will be turned away. There is no room either in the adjoining towns and villages as they are full to the gills.

Tom Kinnane, who has worked miracles since his appointment to Kill, cannot solve the problem presented to him. There are more pupils than the school can accommodate. This will mean that some children will be close to six years of age before they can get a place. Even that is not guaranteed. This is a scandal and disgrace that the Minister has failed to tackle or resolve. Kill needs as a basic requirement a new 24-classroom school with all supporting facilities. This requires a new site. There is no scarcity of land in the vicinity of the village and all the Department needs to do is go out and buy it.

I demand on behalf of the children of Kill, their parents and teachers that this matter be dealt with as a matter of urgency. The Minister must deal with the acute accommodation crisis at Kill national school. Given that the Minister has come in to reply, I hope she has good news for Kill.

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