Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this matter, which is important in the Newbridge and Kildare area. I have used time here over the past two years and, prior to that, as a Member in the Dáil to raise the urgent issue of school accommodation for secondary school students in Kildare South and, in particular, in Newbridge and Kildare. I appreciate the opportunity to return to this matter again.

Some progress has been made in the provision of accommodation in that a site at the Magee Barracks in Kildare town was acquired and contracts were signed in July. I appreciate the action taken by the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, in acquiring that. However, there was a 100% commitment that modular accommodation would be available this time next year, which is next September 2023, in order to have an intake into first year. I want 100% reassurance that this remains the case. We need to have a better co-ordinated approach to allocating secondary school places.

I am dealing currently with two families whose children still do not have places. This is the third week of secondary school and they still do not have places. I have been speaking to the educational welfare officer attached to Tusla and, despite all help and co-operation on that level, they are at a complete loss as to what to do. Only at this point, which is three weeks in, are they at the stage of being able to offer nine hours of home tuition, until a place comes up. That is simply not good enough because young people lose out so much. We talk about all the extra things that we need to do within the education system, but if a young person does not have a place in a school, that is a crisis. That is what we are looking at now. In the next few weeks, primary schools and secondary schools in the Newbridge-Kildare area will be addressing enrolments starting September 2023. They are at a complete loss because there are rumours abounding that the modular accommodation will not be in place by next September. I, therefore, want absolute clarity and commitment in reply to this. It is difficult enough for the feeder schools within Newbridge and Kildare but there are outlying, smaller primary schools, for example, Scoil Bhríde Milltown, which is not a feeder school for any secondary school. That is a further complication for them. The population in both towns and in the smaller towns nearby is growing. We have housing estates but we do not have the infrastructure to deal with them. We have an issue in relation to school places.It is bad enough this year but it will get worse next year, so we have to be able to match that. As I mentioned, we see a record number of houses being constructed and that will bring a very welcome boost to our local economies. We want to see homes for people, but I have been raising this red flag for about seven years now. The rate of growth is far outpacing our infrastructural advancement since then. Resources are maxed out. We have to be able to give a 100% guarantee to parents that their children will have a place in September next year. We must be able to give a guarantee that those who are without a place now will be able to get it very soon. I look forward to the Minister of State's response and her commitment that we will be able to move forward.