Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The concern about this proposed new school is that time is slipping by. I understand the school is due to open in September 2017. As I outlined, there are huge pressures in the area, which I am not exaggerating. A number of parents contacted me during the summer as they were not able to get their children into any secondary school in Portlaoise. Haywood school, the school in Portarlington and all of the schools in the county have substantial school populations as well and there is a long distance between Portlaoise and those schools. There is a major capacity issue. The baptism figures shows that the school population will increase. There is still a baby boom in County Laois for some reason. There is a huge population in the area. There has been a substantial consultation process locally, in which I have been involved, and there has been a good deal of lobbying. We have very good Catholic schools on the Borris Road, we also have an education and training board, on which my colleague seated next to me served, the Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board, and Portlaoise College. There is competition for this. I would like to hear the Minister's thoughts on this matter.

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