Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to be associated with the words of my colleague, Senator Black, regarding the Debenhams workers. Today is day 222. That is 222 days on strike. They are going to be outside the Dáil at 1 o'clock today and I support Senator Black's call for a debate in this House.

I raise the urgent need for additional secondary school places in south Kildare and for a new secondary school based in the Curragh of Kildare to alleviate the problems in surrounding towns and villages. The campaign has been going on for a long number of years. Recently in parliamentary replies to my Labour Party colleagues, we were told the identification of the site for this new school was imminent but, due to commercial sensitivities, its exact location could not be disclosed. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Education into the House because, commercial sensitivities aside, there is a crisis for parents looking at secondary school places for their children. I have been contacted by parents with this worry from Newbridge, Kildare town and down to the village of Nurney. Parents are being told their children are on long waiting lists, causing great stress to them and their children alike. Kildare's population continues to increase but despite repeated warnings from public representatives, community groups and many parents, the urgent need for school places has fallen so far on deaf ears. I hope additional classes, more school places and, as urgently as possible, a new school can be provided. Anything else will cause an educational crisis in the coming years in the county.

The second issue I will raise is one I have raised previously in the House, as have colleagues. It is an issue for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and if he could come into the House, it would be appreciated. There are a number of housing co-ops in County Kildare. Some have been built for more than 30 years. The residents of many of these houses took part in these schemes on the proviso that they would in time be able to buy out their homes. In all cases, this has not happened and they have been refused at every attempt. These residents ask that the same opportunities be afforded them as are given to those in local authority housing. They ask that the tenant purchase scheme be altered to allow those living in co-op housing the opportunity to buy the homes where so many of them have lived all their adult lives.