Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that the population explosion did not happen in the last five years but happened well before then. The children who live in that community and who are part of a population that has been growing for the past 20 years are now in primary and secondary school. They are facing a logjam, not to mention the children to whom the Minister refers who will be starting school in the next few years. It is critical at this stage and the point I am making is that the system is broken. To take St. Joseph's as an example, the issues in that school have been long flagged. It is not the case that the school community has only taken to the streets in the last month: they saw this coming. The Department was warned and the concerns were flagged. The issue has been raised in this House and with the local authority. In this House, we are told that the local authority is dealing with the matter and is looking for a site but when local councillors raise it with the local authority they are told that no-one in the Department has contacted the authority about finding a site. Meanwhile, children and their parents are out on the streets, protesting. The story of St. Joseph's is replicated in other areas, including Skerries and other parts of north Dublin. I did not even get a chance to address Swords, a town with a population approaching 40,000 where there is a critical school accommodation problem. I have tabled another question on that matter which we will come to later, hopefully.

The system is broken and the children and their parents who were out in the rain yesterday deserve better. We really need to look at this.

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