Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the courtesy of the Ceann Comhairle's office in allowing me to raise this important matter which relates to education in the Tallaght area and specifically to the Holy Rosary national school in Ballycragh, a place Deputy McGinley will have heard of.

Somebody said to me today that it is a very difficult time to raise issues about building programmes but I wish to put on the record of the House that the Holy Rosary national school was highlighted on the "Today with Pat Kenny" programme last Monday because it has waited a long time for its building programme. The school has been raising this issue for more than 25 years and it really is time that progress was made. The school community is very much behind the campaign for the allocation of permanent school buildings on the site in Ballycragh. People point out to me they are aware of the current economic climate and that the prefabs are costing the Government, I am told, €120,000 per annum. The school and the community in general continue to urge the Government to consider once again the advantage to everybody concerned of progressing the building project.

Holy Rosary national school in Ballycragh is an amazing place in the sense that it has a very vibrant community and a very large international community. My colleagues and I have seen the worth of the work and how good they are at dealing with education in a very challenging situation.

The school board tells me it is a band 2 school and stage 3 documentation has been with the technical staff of the Department of Education and Science for more than 12 months. The board also tells me that it is very well placed to move forward and would be happy to co-operate fully with the Department in any matters relating to the building programme request. I am glad that the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen, is here and I look forward to his support in pointing out my concerns in this regard to the Minister for Education and Science.

Holy Rosary national school, Ballycragh, has 11 classrooms in a semi-permanent building and 13 prefabricated classrooms. Some 505 pupils are enrolled and there are 37 teaching staff. There are eight special needs assistants, a caretaker and a secretary. There are three adult toilets, no physical education hall, library or ancillary classrooms. A staffroom appropriate for 15 adults is accommodating three times that number. Current applications for enrolment exceed the number of places on offer. This is a developing area of south Dublin and planning permission has been granted for 3,000 houses in the immediate area.

In making a strong case for the school, I believe, without disrespect to anybody, that if it was situated in the so-called commuter belt, the clamour would have been greater and the technical staff of the Department would have been more responsive. If this was in Meath, Kildare or other commuter regions, action would have been taken. I believe that the community there is entitled to make a strong case for the school. Even in the present situation, I hope the Department will look anew at this building programme and seek innovative ways of providing permanent accommodation. That is what the community in Ballycragh deserves.

I know from my many contacts with the school board that its members have been led to believe, on a number of occasions, that the project would be expedited. Clearly, they now find themselves approaching a new school year without knowing the position.

The radio programme on Monday highlighted in a positive manner the good things that are going on in Ballycragh and the clear need for progress on the building programme. I hope that the Minister of State will convey my strong feelings on this issue and I look forward to his response. I thank the Acting Chairman for his courtesy.

See this speech in context