John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I know the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has been in the Chamber all afternoon. It is Easter week which explains the absence of other Ministers. I echo Senator McFadden's comments on the absence of Ministers from the Department of Education and Science. Two weeks ago I raised an education matter on the Adjournment but no Minister from the Department attended the House to respond. While I have no doubt the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will give a good answer to my Adjournment matter tonight, it would be more beneficial if a Minister from the Department of Education and Science were present.

My matter concerns my former school, the Good Counsel College in New Ross, County Wexford. I raised the matter two weeks ago in the context of the ongoing discussions for the past ten years on the amalgamation of secondary schools in the New Ross town area. Five years ago, a report by Dr. Tom McCarthy recommended three post-primary schools to be sufficient for the town. While I believe four would be a more realistic option, for the past five years no agreement has been reached among the management of the existing five schools on the amalgamation process needed to be put in place. This has resulted in capital expenditure for school buildings being frozen. Dr. McCarthy's report concluded that of the three schools for the town, one should be all-boys, one all-girls and one co-educational, each with 750 students. The Good Counsel College already fits these criteria as it is an all-boys school with in excess of 750 students.

Some 20 years ago, the Augustinian order showed great foresight in building a new campus on the then outskirts of the town. The order has added to the campus over the years with the support of the Department of Education and Science. It has engaged with public private partnerships for the provision of all-weather sports facilities. In conjunction with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and New Ross Town Council, the new municipal swimming pool will be located on college grounds. Some years ago the college was approved for a summer works scheme project. However, it could not carry them out because of the bar on capital expenditure due to the failure of agreement for schools amalgamation. I am looking for a conclusion to this farce.

There are ongoing safety problems with the Good Counsel College buildings. The floor of the gymnasium, built only ten years ago, needs to be replaced, yet the college's management has been informed it will not receive funding for such remedial work. Part of the floor in the art room, built just 20 years ago, collapsed and because they could not get capital funding from the Department of Education and Science, the Augustinians, of whom only four or five are left, had to pay for the necessary repair out of their own house funds in New Ross.

That cannot be allowed to continue as Good Counsel has been to the forefront of education in the town for more than 100 years. It is one of the few schools in New Ross which has introduced a curriculum to meet the needs of the Traveller community in the town and members of many different ethnic backgrounds are catered for within the existing school. Will the Minister indicate when we will get a resolution to the problem and when this capital funding will be forthcoming for the necessary projects which need to be carried out?