Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I compliment my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, on tabling the motion which I support. Ireland takes a rather unusual approach to the integration of education planning with physical and social planning. In most countries the planning of schools is at the centre, if not the start, of the entire planning process. The reverse is the case here. We tend to plan housing development and address school needs once houses have been built. If we are lucky, a site is reserved for a school and if we are unlucky, we end up with children being ferried hither and thither from recently built estates. We need to rectify this problem.

We must also take into account the fact that educational needs change with time. In my constituency the shortage of second level places and lack of choice of second level schools are the most common issues raised by parents. My constituency is unusual in that most of the second level places in my constituency are fee-paying. Consequently, the choice left for those who wish or must avail of the non-paying sector is much more limited. I emphasise, however, that Dún Laoghaire in my constituency and Bray in the adjoining constituency are served by many excellent schools.

Shankill, which has a population of 15,000, needs a new second level school and parents are demanding that one be established in the area. This demand could be easily met. Two years ago the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, inexplicably decided to close down Shanganagh Castle, a young offenders centre. The buildings, which have been vacant ever since, contain educational facilities and classrooms and could, with a certain amount of refurbishment, be developed as a viable second level school to serve an area of growing population. The castle has the added advantage of having grounds which could accommodate the playing facilities necessary for a second level school.

I ask the Minister to raise with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the local authority the possibility of redeveloping Shanganagh Castle as a second level school to serve the growing catchment and, in so doing, provide added choice and places for the many people in my constituency who wish to avail of second level education for their children in the non-fee paying sector. I also ask her to consult local schools which would clearly have an interest in the matter. It is a need which must be met. There is a readily available solution and, frankly, I do not understand why this need has not been addressed before now.

This is a subject I have raised by way of Dáil questions with the Minister for Education and Science. In her replies, she was not disposed to the provision of a new second level school for the Shankill area but I ask the Minister of State to reconsider the matter because there is a real need for it. I meet parents all the time who are seeking the provision of additional second level places in the non-fee paying sector. They include parents who, in some cases, resent the fact that they are being pressed into paying fees, rather than having a range of options in the non-fee paying sector that is available in most other parts of the country.

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