Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I also thank the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Seán Haughey, for coming before the House.

The matter I raise is a building project for St. Laurence O'Toole's school for girls in the North Wall area of my constituency. The school is located in an area which is desperately in need of focused intervention to address educational disadvantage and illiteracy. Early intervention is also needed in the lives of young families to ensure their children can be put on the right path in life.

For many years, St. Laurence O'Toole's national school has done tremendous work in difficult circumstances. In recent years, it has stepped up this work and found new ways to look after students attending the school and their families. Part of this approach has involved focusing on what it can do with the facilities and buildings in which it must teach children. With the docklands located immediately adjacent to the North Wall area, the Dublin Dockland Development Authority has assumed a pivotal role in the building project by agreeing to contribute three quarters of the funding required to build the new school. This has created a unique circumstance in that much of the money required to build a new school — the focus of most discussions on schools building projects — is in place.

The provision of a new school building with a range of new facilities would transform the way in which the community is looked after and its children taught. It would serve as an icon in the area and demonstrate that the State is serious about tackling educational disadvantage and looking after families in most need.

The authorities of St. Laurence O'Toole's national school have been waiting for some time for a meeting with officials from the Department of Education and Science to have an update on the position regarding the provision of a new school building. A meeting planned for earlier in the year was cancelled leaving school staff, parents and the wider community uncertain about the status of the project. They want the Department to re-engage with them by holding a meeting with representatives of the school, parents and teachers to give an update on the current position and work with them to provide the new facilities the community so desperately needs. I look forward to a response from the Minister of State.