Maria Corrigan (Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the opportunity to raise this important matter and I thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber. I raise the issue of the provision of a gaelcholáiste for south Dublin. There are six local gaelscoileanna in the area which have been tremendously successful. This has afforded the opportunity for children to be educated through primary level. There is no second level gaelcholáiste in the immediate area but there is one in an adjacent area. In recent years it has just about managed to provide placements for children who wished to access second level education through Irish. However, in the last couple of years, due to the increasing number of local gaelscoileanna it has not been in a position to do that for everybody. A committed and dedicated group of parents and gaelscoileanna in the area have come together to address this problem. The VEC has a building that is no longer used on Sydenham Road, Dundrum, which would be an excellent location for a gaelcholáiste. I understand from the campaign group that the VEC is prepared to be the patron of the gaelcholáiste and provide the premises, although it would require work which would need to be funded. The gaelcholáiste would meet the needs of the six local gaelscoileanna.

Studies completed in recent years have shown that there is now sufficient capacity to fill a two-stream second level school in the area. There is a premises available and if funding was provided, the school could open in September. Given the time of year and the urgency of the matter, I would appreciate a positive response from the Minister of State.