Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join other Senators who have mentioned the war dead. Many young boys went away expecting to be home after a couple of months and many of them are still lying where they fell. It is a terribly sad day. I have visited the graves of the war dead in France and I am delighted the Irish Government built the peace tower over there and recognised our war dead.

I wish to raise two issues. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Noonan, on moving so quickly to get the Comptroller and Auditor General to investigate the Siteserv issue with respect to IBRC. I believe there are questions still to be answered and I would welcome an opportunity to have a debate in this House on the issue.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, and I do not do so lightly, that the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, come to the House to discuss the imminent closure of Gaelcholáiste Chineál Eoghain in the Inishowen Peninsula. This is an Irish-speaking school and it is being closed for one reason only, because of an industrial dispute. This industrial dispute has been ongoing for a number of years. I understand the students in the school perform exceptionally well. I was involved in a prize-giving ceremony recently and one of the heartbreaking moments was a child from that school who was a recipient of a prize but neither the child nor the parents were informed that he was the recipient of a national award. This is clearly a serious matter. Ordinarily I would not move like this but there seems to be a train of events in place that is going to close that school for no reason other than there is an industrial dispute between the management of the school and the staff. Apparently the staff are all pulling together and working really well there. I do not intend to bring the House into resolving industrial relations issues but I do not want the one Irish-speaking school in that area to be closed. Principal teachers in the national schools have stopped sending children to the secondary school because of the situation there. That is simply not good enough in this day and age.