Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and thank Senator O'Reilly for sharing his time. There is an urgent need to appoint a design team to progress the provision of permanent accommodation for St. Mary's national school, Virginia, County Cavan. As Senator O'Reilly pointed out, St. Mary's currently has 350 students enrolled in the school which was originally built to cater for 150 students. There have been no upgrades to the school since it was initially built. I understand there are ten portakabins in use, two of which were paid for by the parents and the parish. Another portakabin is due for installation this September.

The population of Virginia in the 2006 census was 3,188 — an increase of 34.5% from the 2002 census. It is projected to exceed 4,000 by 2010. The status of residential units in Virginia as at 30 June last year was as follows: constructed since 1 January 1999, 633 units; under construction, 108 units; and outstanding permission, 403 units.

As the Minister is aware, our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith, has made ongoing representations to her and the Department of Education and Science in an attempt to speed up the provision of this very urgent project. Councillor Shane P. O'Reilly and members of the board of management of St. Mary's national school, in particular, Mr. Sean Dowd, have been in constant contact with me in regard to this issue. There is frustration among the parents of the children attending the school and I urge the Minister to progress this urgent request as quickly as possible.