Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for accepting this important matter for my area on the Adjournment and I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey.

Kinsale community school was born out of the amalgamation of the Convent of Mercy and the vocational school. It was sanctioned as a new school by the rainbow Government of which my party was a strong participant, with Niamh Bhreathnach, the former Minister for Education, making that decision. At the time one would not have predicted that we would be back here so soon looking for an extension to the school.

Kinsale community school is an important education provider because it is the only second level school in the wider Kinsale area. The alternative for families with students in that area would be Cork city and that does not make any great travel or economic sense.

The enrolment, as of September last, was almost 700 pupils and information available to me suggests it would be nearer 750 in September 2009. The school has a dedicated team of staff, teachers and parents and a dedicated board of management. The principal, Sr. Mary, has been looking for this extension for a long number of years because it is necessary and urgent.

This school is no different to many others in the greater south Cork or west Cork areas in that it is paying almost €20,000 a year for prefabricated buildings. Like many locally, I believe the situation has reached crisis point. I say that because the board of management is considering taking the following radical steps: limiting the choice of practical subjects from September next and limiting the enrolment from September of next year. The board has no choice but to seriously consider those two options. Not alone will that affect the educational curriculum available to students, it also spells out quite clearly the pressure that people in that school are under.

The decision to limit the subject choice and enrolment will have considerable ramifications on the local community. The provision of that large extension is urgently needed. I attended a public meeting organised by the board of management and the parents in the school on 6 October last with a colleague, Councillor Tomás O'Brien, a former mayor of Kinsale, and I witnessed at first hand the pressure people were under and I heard parents speak of the real urgency.

When one sees pupils and parents and one hears that at first hand, it revisits for us the importance of investing in education and providing that extension. I say that for two reasons, apart from the obvious. We need to invest in education now more than ever. We need to ensure that students in the Kinsale area have a decent educational infrastructure available so Kinsale community school can provide the education that is needed with a decent physical building. That is imperative.

Second, surely it makes sense that the Government would stop spending money on prefabs and instead divert that money into building the extensions that are needed, not just in Kinsale — I would throw Clonakilty community college into that mix as well. We are wasting money every year on renting prefabricated buildings without providing the much needed capital to build those extensions.

As I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, will be aware, Kinsale community school boasts three winners of the Young Scientist award. The most recent winners were John O'Callaghan and Liam McCarthy and a number years ago Aisling Judge was a winner. That, in itself, is indicative of the standard of education in the local school and, indeed, the opportunities presented to its pupils.

I appeal to the Minister to provide urgently the funding needed to build the extension for Kinsale community school. It is needed for the present generation of students and will be needed in the future to ensure the people of Kinsale have a decent second-level school available to them.