Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

It gives me great pleasure to second this motion on behalf of my colleagues in the Fine Gael group. I commend Senator Burke on publishing this motion on behalf of our party and putting the case eloquently to the House. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy de Valera, to the House. She is a capable Minister and I wish her well in the Department. She has a capacity to get through the bureaucracy and sort out problems. I hope this is the issue which she will devote her time to sorting out in the coming years.

This is the most important issue to be debated in Private Members' time for one straightforward reason. If ever lies were told, people having been told given assurances before the last election, it must be in the area of primary school buildings. We all accept that there has been a substantial increase in funding in all sectors of education over the past five to ten years, and that is welcome. The primary school sector must be given priority, primarily because all children have an opportunity to go to school.

Lies were told in a myriad of constituencies in advance of the general election and communities were told that certain schools would be sorted out in the context of decisions that were made. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy de Valera, and the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, must defend the gross deception that was perpetrated on these communities by the former Minister, Deputy Woods, who, in the most gratuitous and offensive way, tried to buy votes on the back of promises made that cannot now be fulfilled. That is why this motion has been tabled. It highlights the deception, lies and the con job perpetrated on the people in advance of the general election. This was done in the most vulnerable communities who need a decent standard of education. This deception must be highlighted.

Six weeks prior to the general election the number of school projects put on the architectural planning list increased enormously to 400 – the number prior to then was less than 100. Communities in the 42 Dáil constituencies were told they would get the projects they demanded because a general election was taking place. I come from a parish in Tallaght where two of the Minister of State's colleagues, who are Deputies in a party that supports the Government, went around 1,700 houses and told the people ten days in advance of the election that the refurbishment programme which a school had been seeking for ten years would be delivered. Those people in my parish have been on the streets since the election because of the lies that were told. The spoof and con tricks have been exposed because there is no money available to provide for such school projects.