Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I am delighted to speak about schools in my area of Moycullen, County Galway. Some people describe Moycullen as a village but in reality it is a small town at this stage. It was certainly identified as such in the draft county development plan. It is close to Galway city but has its own community close to the amenities of the National University of Ireland Galway, NUIG, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, University Hospital Galway, UHG, Galway Bay, and the theatre, nightlife and everything else in the city. It is, therefore, a very popular place to live. The growth projections and patterns are going one way, that is, increasing.

Moycullen has a growing population with four schools in the community, Scoil Mhuire, Scoil Cholmáin Tuairíní, Tullykyne and Scoil Bhaile Nua. There are, however, nearly 700 children from the community attending secondary school outside the area. The majority go to Galway city, some to An Spidéal and a small number to Oughterard. For historical reasons and by virtue of its Gaeltacht status, Moycullen is included in the An Spidéal-Indreabhán school planning area.This is despite the vast majority of students not attending secondary school in that school planning area. Is it normal that the majority of pupils in a village do not attend a school in the school planning area in which the village is situated? It makes no sense to me. Is this preventing the development of a post-primary school?

The present requirement to travel outside the community to attend a post-primary school means buses and cars on the road. It means a minimum travel time of one hour a day, which is five hours per week, for the students. Bus tickets are an added cost that parents would not incur if there was a second level school in their community. If there are two kids in a family, the parents might be paying €600 a year for those two pupils. Most of all, it is a right of children living in an area to be educated in their own community, a right never afforded pupils in Moycullen. It is an example of a community that was once just a crossroads and has, from the 1980s when the first two housing estates were built until today, seen an explosion of growth.

Tá éileamh mór ar mheánscoil i Maigh Cuilinn. Tá formhór na ndaltaí ag freastail ar mheánscoileanna cathrach na Gaillimhe. Níl mórán ciall go bhfuil Maigh Cuilinn mar chuid de limistéar scoil pleanála an Spidéil agus Indreabháin. An cheist atá agam ná an bhfuil sé seo ag cur bac ar sheans Maigh Cuilinn meánscoil a fháil?

People in Moycullen are crying out for a second level school in their community. It is a fast-growing area with capacity for growth in its sewerage system. The sewerage plant is at 50% capacity so there is capacity for additional growth and development. The construction of a bypass, starting this autumn, will make the community safer and more popular. I know the Department is conducting an ongoing study, an updated demographic exercise, on school needs across the country. It was at an advanced stage last year so I am wondering if there is an update on that.

As I said, the community of Moycullen wishes to have its own school and it deserves one. Growth patterns are only going one way, as I have said, that is, towards an increase in population. It is only right and proper that rather than having, as I said, up to 700 students a day travelling mostly to Galway city - and that number is only going to grow - a school should be provided in our area. I look forward to the reply from the Minister of State.