Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the important matter of the lack of facilities at Ashbourne community school. Ashbourne is one of the fastest growing communities not only in Meath but in Ireland. Within living memory it was a small, rural village. The local community school lies at the heart and well-being of Ashbourne and the surrounding area. I visited Ashbourne community school last week with the Fine Gael Party spokesperson on education and science, Deputy Enright. We wanted to see at first hand the situation at this well established community school in County Meath. We met the principal Ms Áine O'Sullivan and some of her teaching colleagues.

Ashbourne community school has an outstanding reputation across a wide area of Meath and parishes in north Dublin. The school like almost nothing else has bound the people of Ashbourne and the neighbouring parishes together as a community. I got to know the community school, its staff and pupils well since I was elected a Deputy last year. One of my first public events was to address the transition year students. The obvious lack of facilities for young people in Ashbourne generally, and more particularly in the community school, struck me very forcefully. Ashbourne community school has primitive facilities for physical education for its 918 pupils. The existing PE facilities were built for a much smaller school population. They must also be used for other general school subjects. This is unfair to the pupils and their dedicated teachers when trying to encourage physical activity among young people.

The most startling and shocking aspect of our recent visit to Ashbourne community school for both Deputy Enright and me was the lack of a proper, modern canteen for the students. Most students sat along the corridors of the school eating their lunch. ln the era of the Celtic tiger that must be addressed urgently. A solution to this appalling situation can no longer be long fingered by the Minister for Education and Science.

Ashbourne has grown in leaps and bounds since the community school first opened its doors. The student population has significantly outgrown the existing facilities in the school. This has placed significant additional pressures on the excellent teaching staff and pupils of the school. The lack of a proper canteen and proper PE facilities are only two of the obvious limitations of the existing building. The teachers, pupils and the parents of Ashbourne community school deserve better. The school is involved in ongoing fund-raising to provide the basic facilities that should be an integral part of any second-level school. That is not as it should be. The Department of Education and Science must accept its responsibilities to provide basic facilities such as a canteen area. The Minister for Education and Science's response must give a clear indication of the funding being made available for this project and a realistic timeframe for the work to be completed in Ashbourne community school. The current situation for the staff, students and their parents is intolerable and cannot be allowed to continue.

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