Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Schools, railway stations etc. should be in place before the people arrive to take up residence in new communities. We knew that 15 or 20 years ago, and the fact that it is being done in the dying days of this Administration in one area is no vindication of the ten years the Government has been in power. The list the Taoiseach gave me in regard to west Dublin refers to catch-up provision of facilities. Hundreds of children will still have no classrooms to go to in September and that is the issue I want addressed.

Spare capacity in the area means spare capacity in a primary school miles away from where the children live. Given the traffic crisis and gridlock in Dublin West, and the pressure parents are under to get to work, crèches etc., it is not viable for them to cart their children around the area. The same applies to Meath and Kildare. The pressure on school places has some very negative features. It can set parent against parent on the basis of geography, length of time residing in an area and whether people are renting or have bought, and even, perhaps, on the basis of national origins. That is very worrying.

The 29th Dáil is in its swan song days. The Taoiseach's reply will, perhaps, be his swan song, as far as Leaders' Questions go. Will he give me an assurance that this September in the areas I have mentioned there will be a classroom in their local community for every child in primary school and a place in secondary school in their community for every pupil needing to start there next September? Nothing less is required.

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