Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

This matter concerns some 1,000 students and 100 teachers and ancillary staff at three schools in Clonakilty. This is a case of outrageous discrimination against the people of Clonakilty by the Fianna Fáil-led Government and particularly against the young population attending Clonakilty Community College, Clonakilty Gaelscoil and the national school at Knockskeagh in Clonakilty parish. Clonakilty Community College was built for 400 students but now holds 600 and employs 60 teachers and ancillary staff. The Gaelscoil has 230 pupils and 25 staff. Knockskeagh has 110 pupils and ten staff.

What do the three schools have in common? All are in the parish of Clonakilty, are in dreadful condition and have been pawned off by this Government with meaningless promises and commitments. A second campus has been opened for the community college at the other end of the town, giving rise to major health and safety problems. I warned the Government of the danger of accidents involving young students travelling across the town. It is a great college coping with dreadful conditions. It provides adult education, post Leaving Certificate programmes, ionad lán Gaeilge and a class for moderately handicapped people. On 24 April 2002 the then Minister for Education and Science, Dr. Woods, wrote concerning the much needed extension to the college. He stated: "I am pleased to inform you that I have authorised the appointment of a design team to initiate the architectural planning of this extension." What has happened to this authorisation or did it ever exist? Was it a totally phony pre-election facade? Was it typical Fianna Fáil electioneering, handing out false commitments and promises?

Absolutely nothing has happened on the ground four and a half years on, other than that the needs of the college having grown. The student population has increased and the problem has worsened. Four and half years on, the Government gives a succession of meaningless responses with total contempt for the students, parents and people of Clonakilty in general. The Minister refused to visit when actually passing by the school despite being asked to view the problem. Her absence from the House tonight is further evidence of her contempt. She and the Government have shown absolute contempt for the problems of Clonakilty and its community college.

The case of Clonakilty gaelscoil is similar. It was founded in 1994 and given official recognition in 1997, but it is housed in temporary prefabs which, to put it mildly, have seen better days. For example, the ceilings of the toilets collapsed ten days ago, but fortunately no schoolchildren were in situ at the time.

As a parallel to the waste of the Government on e-voting machines, PPARS and elsewhere, the case of Clonakilty gaelscoil is an even worse example. This year alone, €330,000 will be paid by the Government for the rent of those dilapidated and run-down collection of leaking prefabs. Again, inquiries through Dáil questions meet with the totally opaque response from the Minister for Education and Science, who appears to have adopted a lack of transparency and a total lack of accountability as her trademark. It is said that wilful waste makes woeful want, and this is a major example. The trouble is that the wilful waste is on the Government's part but the woeful want is on the part of the scoláirí and muinteoirí of the gaelscoil, who yearn for decent conditions.

Knockskeagh national school is the third section of Clonakilty's crown of educational thorns. It was built 70 years ago and is an outstanding school operating in Third World conditions. It is included in the INTO list of substandard schools. In July 1997, the Department of Education confirmed that an OPW report indicated: "Due to the extent of the proposed works, it will be necessary to consider these works as a major building project." It also remarked that due to financial constraints — this was just after the 1997 election when all promises were off and money was being cut back straight away — the Department was not in a position to consider that major project "in the current year" of 1997.

Ten years on, nothing has happened, apart from a major part of the roof blowing off five years ago. Again, fortunately, there were no casualties at the time. There was the charade of offering to allow the school to participate in the small schools scheme, years after the Department admitted it was a major project.

The Government is telling us about its €5 billion surplus, which is a sick joke in Clonakilty. I demand on the part of the people of Clonakilty decent conditions for the schools there; an end to the absolute contempt shown by the Government to the children, students, parents and teachers in Clonakilty; and no further delay in issuing the necessary sanctions and approval for the three schools I mentioned.

See this speech in context