Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Seanad to respond to my question on school provision in Swords, County Dublin. Swords is the largest town in Ireland. It currently has a population of over 45,000 and is expanding at a rapid pace. However, there is a school placement crisis in the Fosterstown area. Significant housing development is planned for this area of Swords, with over 3,000 homes planned in the coming years. That will make the current bad situation in Rivervalley and Fosterstown even worse.That is what I want to talk about today. There is an insufficient number of school places at this end of Swords. Schools have been provided in recent years at the other end of the town but this particular area has a very high population of young people that is expanding and there are not enough school places.

A site for a school on Forest Road has been identified in the Fosterstown master plan. Rivervalley community national school opened its doors a number of weeks ago and while the addition of this school to the area is very welcome and has given relief to some families, it is located in the Riasc Centre in Drinan, which is a 45-minute walk from Rivervalley. There is no public transport available and there is severe traffic congestion in that particular area. It is far from ideal to have the school located on this temporary site. People are crying out for a permanent school building on Forest Road.

This issue has been raised by my council colleagues on a number of occasions and council officials have told them that it is up to the Department of Education and Skills to issue a request to Fingal County Council to purchase the site and start the development. It is essential that the school is built before all of the houses are developed in the area and before the crisis gets completely out of hand. A permanent school building on Forest Road in Swords must be built. There is a massive deficit in the provision of school places. I call on the Minister of State to give a commitment to the people of Swords that the Department will go ahead and give the signal to Fingal County Council to purchase this site because the fear is that if it is not done now, the site will be lost to housing.