Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his answer and for taking an interest. However, I did not hear him state that he can provide badly needed and desired further education and training places, which ideally could be restarted in the two schools I mentioned because they used to do them in significant numbers. I assure the Minister of State that among the several thousand local authority houses and rented houses surrounding each school there would be a very strong take-up of a post-leaving certificate option and other further education and training options. This would be a very strong route to further employment and further education for those students who took up these options.

It is a wasted opportunity on the part of the Government not to make provision in an area where there is a great deal of employment. As we were told recently by the Taoiseach, permits are now being issued to bring in foreign workers as opposed to training the people who are already here in the country. In Dublin 15 we have our own citizens and there are many people who have immigrated to Ireland. The Minister talks about the education and training board for County Dublin having facilities for post-leaving certificate courses, but they are over on the south side, in places such as Sallynoggin. How are people supposed to get from Blanchardstown to Sallynoggin?

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