Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response and I welcome what he has said with regard to Skerries. I hope those moves will deal with the students in Skerries who have not been able to obtain a place. The reason we are here and that we do not have enough capacity is because of delays in delivering schools. Take St. Joseph's secondary school in Rush as an example. The Minister speaks about additional accommodation, but it cannot take any more. A site was supposed to have been acquired but it still has not been acquired and is on the way. This needs to happen. I mentioned the Malahide-Portmarnock Educate Together secondary school, which will accommodate another 1,000 pupils but can only take in 48 students. There is a very specific issue with regard to capacity in our area. As I mentioned to the Minister, it becomes even more acute for children with certain special needs and requirements.

The Minister mentioned that schools can apply for additional accommodation. The Minister visited Portmarnock community school, just in advance of the by-election, coincidentally. I believe the Taoiseach was also there. The school has been promised an extension and refurbishment for years. It cannot take any more pupils and could not take additional temporary accommodation.

The Minister mentioned that the Department's main responsibility is to ensure the existing schools in the area can between them cater for the demand for school places in September 2020. Right now, many of them cannot do so. This is the problem. This evening, there are parents who have no school place secured for their children next year. We have time to fix this. The long-term planning was done and the delivery is where it was let down. We need to make sure there are school places for these students next September. The Minister's reply goes some part of the way and I thank him for it, particularly with regard to Skerries.

It does not deal with Swords, Rush, Lusk, Malahide or Portmarnock. Parents have asked me to raise these specific issues with the Minister directly because we need the intervention of the Department. While I recognise schools can apply for additional accommodation, in many instances they have nowhere to put that additional accommodation, and I referenced St. Joseph's secondary school in Rush in that regard. We had a delay with the delivery of phase two of Lusk community college. That meant we had further delays and a lack of capacity in the area.

I specifically ask the Minister to ask the officials in his Department to look particularly at Dublin Fingal and the towns I have mentioned and to work with the schools to rectify this problem.

See this speech in context