Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is hardly necessary for me to rehearse all of the issues again. We have had this discussion several times already. On 1 March, the Minister advised me that one of the primary schools in Swords was undersubscribed, if not to the extent that it would be able to absorb the excess capacity, although he failed to mention that it was a boys-only school and, therefore, not in a position to deal with the full waiting list. The Minister said he would monitor the situation as the schools completed their enrolment process in the coming weeks. That was ten weeks ago. While I hate to say it given the fact that the children have not even had their summer holidays, we are quickly approaching September. Some two or three weeks ago, I spoke with a number of parents with children in the Holy Family national school at the moment whose siblings are waiting to attend. They have been in touch with me since to say they still have no clarity. It appears that the Minister is waiting for this situation to somehow magically resolve itself, but it is not going to. There is a need for action on the part of the Minister and the Department to deal with this on a proactive basis. It is not a case that will sort itself out once the waiting lists are cleared because there are children who are going to be left without places. The last time we discussed this, I asked the Minister if he would consider emergency or temporary measures. I also asked him to consider doing everything possible. I want to hear from him this evening what will be done because these people will be back onto my office as well as to those of the other Members representing the area.

This is a very serious issue in particular for those people whose children are already in the school with siblings waiting to attend. It is also very serious for those children born in November and December. They are not eligible for an additional year of the ECCE scheme and, as such, cannot go back to crèche. Their parents face having to return them to and pay for crèche facilities. At least one mother maintains it will probably not be worth her while to work given that she will have to pay over so much money. It is unfair to leave families waiting in limbo.

The Minister will not dispute that we have a growing population as evidenced by the census. While it is clear we need something done in the short term, there is a real need in Swords to increase school capacity in the long term. This is not a case of parents saying they only want their children to go to the local school. If the Minister has ever been in Swords in the morning, he will know that it is not possible for these parents to drop one sibling to the Holy Family and to then make it in any reasonable time to another part of Swords to drop another child off at a different school. It is also not reasonable to expect siblings to go to separate schools. All these parents want is to be able to educate sibling children in the school that is closest to their homes and rooted in the community where their children play sports and are growing up among their friends. While it is a long time since I had to think about these issues, that is all I wanted as a parent myself. It is what most parents want.

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