Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I am disappointed that we do not have the Minister for Education or her Minister of State. I appreciate that the Minister of State may not have the level of detail I need and require, apart from the briefing he has been given.

As we all know, education is the passport to the future because tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it. I am not suggesting that education only happens in schools. We obviously have informal education, which is very important, at home and within society, but schools are the fundamental building blocks because they provide education in communities and towns. It is vital that we have sufficient schools to provide education and to provide children with the opportunity to socialise, learn how to make friends and interact with one another, as well as learning the academic subjects they need for life.

I welcome the opportunity this matter affords me to comment again on this subject. I appreciate the fact it was chosen. It is a very important issue for families and students in Newbridge and Kildare. This is not the first time I have raised it. I have done so a number of times. While preparing for this, I was a little struck by the lack of progress since I last raised the matter. I certainly hope we will receive a level of reassurance from the Minister of State that the Department is working proactively in the background to ensure that every child within our community of Newbridge and Kildare will have a school place in the coming months and beyond.

I have called for a more co-ordinated approach to the allocation of secondary school places a number of times in this House and when I was in the Dáil. Towns such as Newbridge, Kildare and others throughout south Kildare continue to grow and prosper. We see thousands of new houses being built and people moving into homes in our area. All of this is bringing a welcome boost to our local economies. However, I have raised a red flag in the Houses over the past seven years regarding the growth rate of houses far outpacing our infrastructural advancements. We see towns whose resources are already maxed out continuing to grow. These infrastructural deficits include the areas of transport and congestion, accessing GPs and school places.

One particular area is that of school places. The long-term vision for the provision of additional school places in our area hinges on the acquisition of an eight-acre site at Magee Barracks in Kildare town to facilitate the relocation of the Curragh Post Primary School, which is very welcome. The acquisition is at an advanced stage, but a commitment has been given that there will be modular buildings in place by September of next year to facilitate this. From speaking to the principal and those in the education and training board, ETB, they have not been provided with a site map or any notion of where the entrance and exit to the school will be.

I believe we are now at a critical point as regards preparation. In essence, I want to know if the Minister of State can give an assurance that every young person who needs a secondary school place in south Kildare will have that in September.I also ask for an assurance from the Minister of State that the project to provide modular accommodation on the site and the other projects around the area are progressing at a sufficient rate to cater for the enhanced demand in the 2023-24 school year and beyond.