Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue. I do so on behalf of Gaelscoil Portlaoise which has been trying for a considerable period to secure permanent accommodation. The Department of Education and Science recently requested the school to enter into a further three-year lease on the current site at Heathfield in Portlaoise. The annual rent for the site is €120,000, in addition to which the school must pay rent of approximately €155,000 for classrooms and Portakabins. The total being spent by the Department on temporary accommodation for the school is €275,000 per annum. The Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, and other Deputies present will agree this is a large sum for a temporary facility.

In September 2008, the 11-teacher school will have 208 pupils, a figure which is expected to increase considerably in the coming years. The gaelscoil was originally founded in the prison officers club in Portlaoise in 1998. Thereafter it moved to the GAA club and has been located on the current site at Heathfield for three years. The school authorities, parents' council and others have done substantial work on the school's infrastructure, including the installation of tarmacadam areas for sport. Approximately €50,000 was spent on this type of work in the past three years.

I share the concern of parents and the school authorities about the lack of commitment to a permanent accommodation solution. A difficulty has arisen in Portlaoise because all the town's schools have been allowed to drift on the Department's schools building programme for a considerable period. Consequently, school accommodation throughout the town has reached crisis point. While solutions for some schools are in the offing, a solution has not been provided for the gaelscoil.

Every time a Deputy raises this issue with the Department, it refers to the McCarthy report issued in 2000 and indicates the school will be considered in 2011 when all other schools in the town have secured accommodation. The other schools are not optimistic on that count. Parents and teachers are frustrated by the Department's approach.

The key issue is the large amount of money the Department is spending on temporary accommodation. By 2011, almost €1 million will have been spent on a temporary facility. The sum would go a long way to providing a permanent accommodation solution. The school has submitted two site options, including the current site, to the Department and is anxious to enter into meaningful negotiations with it to find a permanent solution. While the school authorities want to keep the school open for the next number of years, they also want a permanent facility, rather than an expensive temporary facility. In the eyes of the school authorities, the current accommodation has been a long-term solution which bridges a gap but does not offer a long-term answer. I ask that the Minister give the issue serious consideration, enter into meaningful negotiations and provide a permanent solution to the problem.

See this speech in context