Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader of the House to arrange a debate with the appropriate Minister on the availability of skilled workers due to the downturn in the building industry and to raise with the Minister the need for a survey on the availability of those skills. They could be utilised in the provision of hot water in schools through the use of solar panels. I carried out an initial survey of 3,300 primary schools and my initial results are that 82% have only cold water in their bathrooms and toilets and 12% have hot water. In 1,000 post-primary schools approximately 53% have hot water and 41% have only cold water.

It is a basic requirement for the proper management and control of hygiene in schools. Most students come from homes that have hot water to wash after going to the bathroom and they now have to use facilities of a lesser quality at school. We could use the summer works scheme——