Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I am delighted to speak on the motion which I hope will become a resolution. I compliment Senator Burke for bringing it before the House. It is both important and timely. I welcome the Minister of State and wish him well on his promotion. The two issues for which he has responsibility, children and education, both tie in with the motion. It would be very fair of a Government to state, "We have no money, we made a mistake, we were wrong" and come out with its hands up on this issue. During the general election I watched the number of commitments made to school groups that their schools would be looked after. This is a short-sighted decision about a soft target. If it were not for the INTO, this would not be a national issue. The INTO co-ordinates action and ensures politicians and parents are briefed.

During the last general election in a constituency I know of a school was informed that it would not get its planned extension. It was overcrowded for years and its prefabs were very old. As there was no general purposes room in the school, even though it was very progressive, it could not do anything. The school in question is not located in the Dublin area or the Minister of State's constituency. When the Taoiseach visited the constituency, the school decided to raise the matter with him. It intended to mount a protest when he arrived. A Fianna Fáil candidate in the area went to the school principal and said that if it did, it would never get the extension built. That was conveyed to the parent who was secretary of the school parents' committee. The school principal rang me – at that stage I was still in INTO – and I said that cannot be, a candidate would not threaten. I told him to ring the candidate. He did so and the candidate said exactly the same thing. As a result, they did not carry out their protest when the Taoiseach was there. They were afraid.