Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply and I sympathise with him in respect of the difficulties he is experiencing. The Minister did not establish the Department of Education and Science and was not responsible for its operation over a long period.

It is incredible that some form of basic spreadsheet on which the information to which the question refers is not available. Deputies were treated to a very good presentation by officials from the Department's offices in Tullamore and were suitably impressed. In order to obtain the kind of lateral productivity to which many people have recently referred, I suggest that the Department work in conjunction with the VECs - which have a great deal of expertise at their disposal - and local authorities in respect of this matter. We should ask the engineering and planning departments of the various local authorities to carry out a conditions analysis in respect of existing schools. Those who work in these departments are public servants and they are not doing anything at present because there is no building work taking place. Some of the larger VECs have the capacity to do precisely what I have suggested.

Obviously, however, none of this has happened. We are going to be hit with a tsunami in the near future, with 25,000 additional pupils entering the system each year. Beginning this year and on the assumption that there will be 30 pupils per class, there will be a need for an extra 760 classrooms per year. The Department is not equipped to deal with this increase in demand and will only be able to do so it if receives assistance. I suggest that such assistance should be obtained from within the public service and that the Minister should not plead that there is a lack of resources.

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