Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry the Minister for Education and Skills is not here because I want to call him to account for a gross breach of promise and remind him of his responsibility to the people of Castleknock. It came as a body blow to the parents, staff and students of Castleknock community college when they saw an answer to a parliamentary question from the Minister towards the end of last year saying that desperately needed extra classrooms and a sports hall were not included in the five-year construction programme announced by the Department of Education and Skills last year.

These extra classrooms are long overdue and critical at this stage. Castleknock community college was built in 1995 after it must be said much lobbying and pain from the local community. It was built initially for 400 students but inevitably, as those of us who supported the community and parents at the time predicted, the burgeoning population of young people meant that there was significant pressure for expansion and there are now 1,135 students. Unfortunately and incredibly in this day and age, many of these students are in prefabricated buildings that have gone from being a temporary solution to a long-term fixture. This is a deplorable state of affairs. A mother of a current student wrote to me emphasising the critical need for the new classrooms and pointing out that students are learning in cold and damp prefabs which have outgrown the age they were supposed to last. She also pointed out the necessity for building a sports hall because with the confined space in the area, children are denied the full scope of physical activities.

Castleknock community college has wonderful and dedicated staff and a wonderful complement of students with very committed parents behind them. They are generally low and middle-income earners and many of them have been badly hit by the economic crisis and the disastrous austerity policies of this Government and the previous one. If this Government did not proceed with the much needed facility students and parents were promised, it would be a very low blow.

Two Government Ministers represent this area along with myself. While in opposition, the Minister for Social Protection frequently raised the decibel level quite high when there were intolerable delays in educational investment. The Minister is very quiet on this issue. In 2011, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport welcomed the granting of planning permission for the new addition to Castleknock community college and then said in a communiqué to his constituents that he hoped work would begin in 2012. He indicated that he would be contacting the Minister for Education and Skills to highlight the importance of advancing a project as important as this.

I want an answer from the Minister of State and the Department, namely, a date in the near future when the building of the extra classrooms and sports hall will commence as was solemnly promised to the people and students of Castleknock community college. Nothing less than that is acceptable.

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