Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

In any event, I will take the Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the current position for County Laois.

The allocation of funding for school buildings in 2009 is in excess of €650 million. This represents a significant investment in the schools building and modernisation programme. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools.

At primary level in County Laois, work is progressing on-site to provide a new eight classroom school in Emo. Another project in Borris-in-Ossary to provide a new eight-classroom school has gone to tender. For Portlaoise, enrolments in the six primary schools in the area have increased from 1,474 in 1999 and 2000 to 2,044 this year, a 38% increase in a relatively short period of time. The Department has identified the town as a rapidly developing area, which attracts the highest priority in the allocation of capital funding. In addressing the impending needs of Portlaoise, the Department met with the principals of the primary schools concerned on a number of occasions and proposed the construction of an eight-classroom school, located on a site owned by County Laois VEC, Vocational Education Committee, to cater for the increased enrolments. The schools refused to move into this state-of-the-art facility and subsequently the building was occupied by Gaelscoil Portlaoise which had been renting temporary accommodation.

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