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

Not to be too parochial, but the Minister for Education and Science gave a good presentation to the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, as one would expect. I told him that I was glad he was not suggesting that the lights would go out.

We still need the building sector. Let us not forget that building schools is important, as it will provide employment and help people. I want to mention two schools in my constituency. The first is the Holy Rosary national school in Ballycragh which has operated in prefabs for more than 20 years. The other one is the all-Irish school, Scoil Chaitlín Maud, in Knockmore. Surely some mandarin in the Department could find an innovative way to complete these projects. We all have priority projects we want to see built, but I am putting on record my genuine support for those two projects and I hope the Minister will consider them along with the others.

I will listen to the Labour Party leader and to all other contributors today, and I look forward to this debate. I thank the Acting Chairman, Deputy Johnny Brady, for his courtesy.

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