I received a call on Friday from an independent councillor, Valerie Byrne from Elphin, County Roscommon. Elphin is a village of 750 people and its community college does not have enough classrooms, forcing the children to go to the grammar school in the town for certain classes during the day. They get wet and cold as they go to and from classes and she has asked me to ascertain the status of an extension for the community college. The economic viability of Elphin is affected by the current state of affairs because children are being sent to school in Strokestown, Carrick-on-Shannon and Boyle. This means parents will do their shopping in these towns rather than in Elphin. The Minister in his speech said that community leaders rather than developers should be the decision makers in rural areas and praise is due to Valerie Byrne for putting pressure on Government to secure an extension for her local school.