John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is disappointing that the Minister for Education and Skills is not here. We have been attempting to submit this Topical Issue for five or six sitting days at this stage. It is not often that all the Deputies from two constituencies get together to vocalise and articulate the needs of parents and children in a particular area.

The area in question is burgeoning. As has been pointed out, the existing primary schools are already bursting at the seams. For example, Holy Family national school in Rathcoole, which was constructed to cater for 1,000 pupils, already has 900. There are over 300 pupils in Citywest Educate Together national school and another 300 in the Citywest & Saggart community national school. Saggart and Rathcoole are two of the largest and fastest-growing towns in Ireland. The Citywest estates closer to the Tallaght end also need to be considered.

I understand that the Minister received quite a number of letters from children attending the primary school. We saw samples of those at a recent meeting and we heard about them. Children are pleading with the Minister. They love their existing school so much that they want to be guaranteed that they will be able to stay with their friends and continue their education, from primary to post-primary, together. There has been a huge amount of activity pushing for this on the part of parents associated with a number of local national schools. Some of the Deputies mentioned the pressure on existing transport services and congestion. The Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, will agree that children need and deserve the opportunity to stay together and learn.

At present, there are teenagers in the area queueing for buses to bring them to other community schools, either in Kingswood or, as proposed, Firhouse. This is not fair on any of the communities. Rather than having the parents who are working hard torment themselves over the coming years, the Minister of State should tell us when the review of school needs in the area will be produced. The Government should trust politicians and parents who say the review is not needed. Politicians, parents and the children know the area is entitled to a post-primary school and that the numbers are already sufficient to justify it.

See this speech in context