Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I do not think the picture is as bad as the Deputy paints it. During my term as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with for responsibility developing areas, I had many meetings with representatives of the planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Science. I met local authority managers in developing areas and we sat around the table to work out a series of protocols. An excellent programme is being put in place. For the first time local authorities in developing areas, or what we call hubs or gateways, are feeding information to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to give an accurate picture of what is happening, how much progress has been made, the number of houses and the anticipated population growth. This is something that was not done previously but is now in the remit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

We in the Department of Education and Science will continue to liaise with local authorities and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to ensure we get exact figures that will allow us to measure requirements precisely. We are satisfied we can meet the accommodation needs of pupils.

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