Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I thank Deputy Joe Higgins for agreeing to share his time with me. Following the failure of local representatives and council officials to plan for or provide suitable and sufficient facilities and places at Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa in Laytown, County Meath, the parents' association of the school invited Deputies from outside that county to view the situation locally. When Deputy Higgins and I visited the school yesterday, the parents informed us that there are no classrooms for 98 children who are due to start school in two months' time.

We are aware that this problem is not unique to east Meath as it is familiar, unfortunately, in many rapidly expanding commuter towns in the counties surrounding Dublin, as Deputy Higgins has outlined. I was present for Leaders' Questions in this Chamber yesterday when Deputy Higgins informed the Taoiseach of the crisis at Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa. I heard the Taoiseach tell Deputy Higgins that "in Laytown, where the Deputy was this morning, the number of schools that have been built there is enormous". That is just not true. The Taoiseach's Cabinet colleague, the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, was sitting beside him when he made that comment yesterday. The Minister of State, Deputy Mary Wallace, was also present. I am sure they can tell the Taoiseach that the circumstances in Laytown are not as he depicted them.

Thousands of residential homes have been built by developers in east Meath since 1997, but not one classroom has been built in Laytown since the 1970s. Education, which is a basic function of local and national government, is guaranteed under our Constitution. Parents demand the best facilities for their children and will not accept the worst. It is disgraceful, as I have seen for myself, that miles of high-density housing have been developed and there is more to come, but no schools have been built to accommodate the children who inevitably and naturally occupy such housing.

This is another example of the failure of successive Governments, comprising all the major parties, to provide basic administration. I have no reason to believe that the alternative Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition would be any different, unfortunately. I urge the Government to be reasonable and to address this problem before it meets the electorate next year. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Wallace, to take personal charge of the disgraceful situation in Laytown.

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