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

I sincerely hope the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, has come in here with some good news for me because the people in St. Michael's special school in Skerries truly deserve it. They recently had an inspection and the inspector found that the teaching and the learning in this establishment is exemplary. I have met some of the parents, I have met the children and I have met the teaching staff there. One could not meet a more dedicated, hardworking and nicer bunch of people.

However, the conditions in which they are delivering services are unacceptable. As the sun is shining - I am not here to give out about the sunshine - it gets uncomfortably warm within the school. The good news is at least they can go outside. When it is cold, they have no large hall in which to congregate. They are operating in a building that is not fit for purpose.

My understanding, and the Minister of State may correct me if I am wrong, is that Fingal County Council has confirmed that it has found a site. As far as the local authority is concerned, its work is done as the site is located and it is over to the Department. There was a board of management meeting earlier on this week, a phone call was placed to the Department to get an update on the position and the board of management has not received an update yet.

I represent the constituency with the fastest growing population in the State. Having many young people in the constituency is good but not being able to look after the children in the constituency is not good. As we speak, there are at least five children for whom there is no school place. These are children who have special needs. These are children who would benefit significantly from being in St. Michael's school. If I had an hour, I could spend it talking about those involved and the good work that they do. Colleagues of the Minister of State have visited the school. Anyone who does could not fail to be impressed.

I am not the only local representative who has raised this. The reason we have is because it is a lovely place and they are waiting a very long time to get suitable accommodation. I do not know how the staff manage to put up with it. The accommodation they are in is wholly inadequate and unsuitable and extreme temperatures, either hot or cold, show that up.

I have my fingers crossed here that the Minister of State has some good news for me.

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