David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I note the three points she made. She spoke about availing of unused capacity. However, all the schools are full and they all have waiting lists. She also suggested extending capacity. Some of the schools cannot do that because, physically, it is very difficult for them to do that. Two of the schools will probably need a brand-new campus because they are old and already stretched to the limit. I would welcome a new school but that will take some time to be delivered.

I ask the Minister to keep me and my colleagues apprised of the figures that have been made available to the Department. I am concerned about patrons asking for extra accommodation because there is no compulsion or onus on them to do that. If schools are already stretched to the limit and do not have space, they will be slow to do that. We must also consider health and safety requirements. If a school is already creaking under the number of students it has and cannot take any more physically, it is unsafe and unfair to shoehorn more students in there for want of a better way of putting it. That is also wrong.

There may be other solutions involving other buildings in the area that might be utilised in the interim. There are plans to build more houses in the area for young families. Indeed, more houses are being built in the area and are coming on stream quickly. We need advance planning in order to have more secondary school places. I listened to the earlier debate on further education. Students need the best of facilities that we can offer. They need gymnasiums and other physical education facilities, science labs, workshops and so forth. In some instances, these can only be provided by building new schools.

I recognise that departmental officials have been working on this matter. I ask them to redouble their efforts. This is serious. Even with what they have planned already, we could still have up to 100 students without places in September and I am at a loss to know what they will do. I ask the Minister of State to take those issues back to the Department. I thank her for being here and for her words.

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