Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)

I mean this with the greatest of respect to the Minister of State, but this is the fourth Topical Issue raised with no relevant line Minister or Minister of State here to debate it and to engage in the conversation on it. I am not directing this at the Minister of State. He is here and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to him about this issue, but I cannot expect he will know anything about this specific issue, given his brief. I ask him to take that back to the Chief Whip. It is disrespectful at best to colleagues right across the House that we are not being given the opportunity to raise these issues directly with line Ministers. At half ten on a Tuesday night, there is no prior commitment clashing with this. Whether I am sitting in the Chair or sitting through Topical Issue sessions right throughout the year, we are seeing that it is very rare that a line Minister is here to answer questions and engage in a constructive debate about issues. Again, I emphasise that that is not directed at the Minister of State personally. I am grateful that he is here to take this.

The Minister of State might be aware that north Kildare, and indeed the county of Kildare, has experienced a doubling of the population since 1991. We are now over 220,000 people in the county, from pretty much just over 100,000 in the early 1990s. That is significant growth, and the manifestation of that growth, how it impacts our communities, is very positive in most ways. We have a very vibrant county, a wonderful county to live in and to grow up in, but it does not mean we are immune from any of the consequences of that. That manifests itself in service provision, including GP services and public transport services, but specifically school services and education. Certainly, in communities like Leixlip, Maynooth and Celbridge, where the population has increased greatly, we have not seen the services keep pace with that at all.

I will raise the issue of one school in particular with the Minister of State, if I may, and that is Scoil Mochua in Celbridge, a school of nearly 40 years and of 700 children, who have just gone through an evaluation process with the NCSE. The NCSE has told the school that three SNAs for 700 children is adequate. I do not know the Minister of State's situation. I have three children who have all gone through primary school education. My wife is an SE teacher. I have good insight into what should be provided, and one SNA for 220 children is simply not adequate. I have spoken to the principal today and spoken to many parents on this issue. Frustration does not even begin to describe how they feel. When I get to come back in, I will be able to speak to the Minister of State a little more about expansion at Scoil Mochua. The school has worked with Kildare County Council. Land is available. Short-term, rooms are also available to address this. However, the NCSE has been told that the Minister has met the targets so it will not do any more. We have probably the only school in Ireland that wants to open these classes and it is being told "No". We have planning problems. Tailte Éireann has said it cannot accept a deed of waiver for any land beside the school. The school has been maintaining land for 40 years but it is at a complete juncture. It cannot go any further with it.

There are two clear asks on which I will come back to the Minister of State with regard to follow-up from this. The first was just the opportunity to raise the problem: 700 children and three SNAs. I think he will agree with me there is something wrong there. Can he instruct the NCSE to evaluate this school again? The second thing is that we need a meeting between Tailte Éireann, the school community, the Minister or representatives from the Department, and Kildare County Council to move this forward in the long term. We have opportunities for three more special classes. That would meet the needs of 18 children, but we need to get through the problem with planning first.

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