Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The question does not require an immediate and specific response from the Minister. What I am seeking, I suppose, are sentiments, and the Minister has already expressed sentiments. I was impressed by the young ladies from St. Joseph's school in Lucan who contacted the Minister about a specific case in their area, which I do not propose to address in the Chamber. They raise the important point that their school does not offer either technical graphics, a subject that probably requires the least infrastructure of the specialised subjects, or construction studies, which requires a certain amount of infrastructure. The Minister referred to physics where there has traditionally been a deficit in girls' schools. There has been a deficit in biology in some boys' schools and both these subjects also require facilities.

Will the Minister consider issuing a circular encouraging schools to share facilities? Generally, when an area has a girls' second level school one will find a boys' second level school close by. It would be useful for both genders to have access to shared facilities to expand the curriculum. My daughter, who is only ten years old, is good at art and is now looking at house plans. If she attends the local girls' secondary school, it is highly unlikely she will be able to study technical graphics or building and construction. However, the issue could be addressed at local level. It would require the Minister to engage in persuasion and provide a general sense that this would be a good thing to do, rather than issuing directions.

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