Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. This is our opening shot in a process whereby I will make him familiar with the schools in south Kildare. We will continue to brief him on the impact of pressures relating to places as they develop. I welcome his original response regarding a review of the overall demographics of Kildare and pressure on places. I welcome the fact that we are very close to a final announcement on the need for increased provision beyond these extensions.

The South Kildare Educate Together campaign was established in 2014. Since then, we have had meetings with two taoisigh, two Ministers for Education and Skills and departmental officials. Deputy McHugh is the third Minister in the job and we still have not gone away. There is huge demand from parents in Kildare South who have children at primary level for improved provision of choice at second level as well. The Department should not be surprised by this demand. Two Educate Together primary schools were opened a number of years ago in south Kildare. The Educate Together primary school in Kildare town this year has a sixth class for the first time. The parents involved travelled to Portlaoise to look at a second-level Educate Together school because they do not have that option in Kildare south, and this need to be addressed.

The provision of a new school would require all the decisions on the patronage process to be made and site selection and acquisition would take a long time. The review in the Department will show that we do not have much time. Two years ago I stated that one very good fit to work with the Educate Together campaign and to address these issues of pressure on spaces would be to look at the Curragh post-primary school, which absolutely deserves a new building. There are great staff and students working in very difficult circumstances. A partnership or joint patronage process with Educate Together and a new school building for the Curragh could deliver increased capacity in an area between two very big towns, Kildare and Newbridge, that are at bursting point. It could attract pupils from primary schools such as those in Athgarvan, Ballysax and Suncroft and many more in the area that all feed into those towns at present. This would rejuvenate the area. It would be a very overdue shot in the arm for the staff and students of that school. Irrespective of the location of the site and whether the Department of Defence works with us on the provision of a new site on the camp or whether we have a new site outside of the Curragh but in the surrounding area, this is probably the most common-sense approach that would give us that increased capacity as quickly as possible.

I have no doubt that the most recent figures the Minister's officials possess - these were compiled at the end of September - show that the pressure the Ceann Comhairle and I and other public representatives have indicated exists in the constituency of Kildare South is very real and will not be offset solely by the extensions that are proposed.

See this speech in context