John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise this matter and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, for his presence. It is very much appreciated. This Government has a very good record with regard to school construction and building, not least in my own constituency of Dublin South-West. I can point to a number of schools that have been built and completed in the lifetime of this Government. They include Kingswood Community College in Tallaght, which is a state-of-the-art community college - Sancta Maria College in Ballyroan is a denominational school, where the contractors may have run into some difficulty - and Saplings Special School, which the Department of Education has agreed to purchase on behalf of the State. There are a number of Educate Together school buildings in Citywest, Firhouse and Ballycullen, where there is a state-of-the-art temporary building housing an Educate Together post-primary school at present. New education and training board, ETB, national schools have been built in Citywest and Tallaght and there is an ETB post-primary school planned for the Citywest area. In addition, there are two brand-spanking-new Gaelscoileanna, Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna agus Gaelscoil na Giúise, which was built three years ago. The Government has a very good record.

What I am raising with the Minister of State today is the desire to keep that record ongoing and to raise a number of school projects that are in the pipeline and on which progress may have stalled somewhat. Boards of management and the school community are anxious to know what the state of play is with them. Those projects include Coláiste Pobail Fóla in Citywest, where a brand new building has been applied for and St. Aidan's Community School in Tallaght, which would have been one of the flagship community schools back in the 1980s but is very much in need of complete replacement. It is costing the State quite a bit, as it does with a number of other schools built in that time, just to refurbish and maintain it. The Minister, Deputy Foley, visited Tallaght Community School last year. The school thought it was getting refurbishments and renovations but, to its great surprise, the Department correctly deemed it would be much more economic to demolish the school and build a state-of-the-art school there. It is awaiting news on that. Solas Chríost National School in Belgard and Holy Family Community School in Rathcoole are waiting news about commencement of building works. St. Pius X, a junior and national school in Templeogue, in my constituency, is awaiting news of what exactly the situation is with its position on the major school works capital programme. Sancta Maria Community College is an incomplete project. There are outstanding works to be done.

In addition, if these projects commence, they will have positive implications for the provision of autism spectrum disorder places in each of the schools because the new schools, in particular, will provide additional special classes. There is quite a bit of work.

The final request, which I ask the Minister of State to bring back to the Minister on my behalf, is for the Minister to visit St. Aidan's Community School in Tallaght. It has substantial lands and some very exciting works could be done in conjunction with the Department, the local authority and the school community.

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