Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Listeners to "Morning Ireland" today may have heard an item towards the end of the programme featuring parents from the suburb of Tyrellstown who were very upset. Tyrellstown is a very large area in Blanchardstown-Castleknock where there are more than 2,000 homes, most of which are occupied by families with young children. It is serviced by two local primary schools, both excellent, Mulhuddart national school and Tyrellstown Educate Together school.

For the past seven years those schools have been endlessly and fruitlessly in search of a permanent site. We are coming again to crunch time where parents will seek to enrol their children in January for a place next September. As many parents explained at a packed public meeting held some weeks ago - one of many - they do not know what to do or where to go. It seems extraordinary that this Government can give the go ahead for 2,000 houses to be built in a new suburb of Dublin 15. They are very nice houses and it is a lovely population. All the bases for long-term prosperity and happiness are there for these families and their children except they have no school places and are being educated in pre-fabs.

This situation has gone on for years. When the estate was planned more than 12 years ago there were three school sites. Between them, the Department of Education and Science and the developer managed to lose or magick away all those school sites that would have accommodated two primary schools and one second level school. In a way, the people who bought their houses, paying high mortgages and high management company fees, are the victims of Fianna Fáil's vision of proper management and development in which developers make the fortunes and schoolchildren and their parents are left waiting.

We were told some time ago by no less a figure than the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, that the cheque had been written for the acquisition of the school site. We were told by the developers they were prepared to give the school site for free. Now we have been told that the contracts are ready between the two parties and still we have no idea what is happening. We are coming to the end of the financial year and no funds have been allocated by the Department of Education and Science for the construction and commencement of the permanent buildings of these schools. We are in a recession and there are builders and construction workers queueing up for work in such projects.

Why is Fianna Fáil denying the children of Tyrellstown their proper school sites and their permanent schools?

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