Maria Corrigan (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to raise this very important matter on the Adjournment, namely, the provision of a secondary school for the area of Stepaside-Leopardstown. This area has grown in the past ten years from having a couple of hundred homes to one that now has in excess of 8,000 homes. It has four primary schools immediately within its environs and a further four immediately adjacent to it. It does not have any secondary school. Stepaside-Leopardstown is located within the Glencullen electoral area which itself lacks any public secondary school and this is a matter of great urgency.

A site for a secondary school, located in the village of Stepaside, was identified in 2000. I understand the Department has been examining this site with a view to commencing the secondary school. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could give an indication of the timeframe. A phase is being entered now in which the children of the area are getting ready to leave primary school. Unless they have a secondary school to attend, there is a real likelihood they will commence a pattern of attending secondary schools outside the area and that pattern will persist for their sisters and brothers who will follow them. This would be in the interests neither of the community nor in building the kind of stable environment we have spent the past ten years developing.