Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. I welcome the opportunity to raise the need for the Minister for Education and Science to outline his response to requests for school extensions, development and refurbishments in a number of schools in the Lucan area. These include St. Thomas's national school, Scoil Mhuire national school and Lucan Community College.

On 12 February the Minister for Education and Science announced 43 new school building projects throughout the country. Remarkably, not one of those schools is in Lucan or even in the Dáil constituency of Dublin Mid-West. There is no question that there is not enough transparency in the way decisions on school refurbishments are taken.

Lucan has experienced a major growth in population and it is clear the educational requirements in Lucan are fast expanding. There is considerable pressure on the local schools and it is very difficult for those schools that are waiting to hear from the Department without having any clear outline of when they are likely to get the extensions or developments that are in process. Many are taking on new lists for enrolments next year. It is very hard for them to plan new classes because of the lack of information coming back to them from the Department of Education and Science. The needs of these schools have been overlooked.

I mentioned only three schools tonight, but all are in need of urgent attention from the Department. They have been waiting too long and I believe they were left in limbo. I would like to see more transparency in the decisions that are made. It would be a help to return to the system whereby schools know when they are likely to hear from the Department and when development will take place. There is an economic downturn but we have been told by the Government that the schools refurbishment programme will go ahead.

I hope the Minister of State will provide some clarity for these excellent schools in Lucan and that he will cast some light on the criteria behind the current school building list which ignores the educational needs of those schools and the children who attend them.