Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the acknowledgement of what is happening in Clonakilty. This is not rocket science. If 120 kids are coming in and 100 are going out, there is a deficit of places. There is an increase of 20 in the number of kids going to the school. We need a short-term measure to be put in place to ensure these kids will be catered for. That is the first and basic thing.

The census and county development plan show there will be another 1,800 people living in Clonakilty by 2028. What does that mean? It means there will be more kids and that more capacity will be required. What is really needed is a plan for the community college. The plan is clear. In the short term, we need to ensure modular accommodation is put in place and the Astroturf for which the college has covered 50% of the cost, needs to be provided to ensure kids have the space required and the option of activity at break times. In the long term, the college will need another extension. There is room, capacity and space at the back of the college.

It will be the same story next year. If not for the good work of the principal and the committee, we would not be in the scenario whereby all kids are being accommodated. There is great frustration - and I thank the Acting Chairperson for allowing me to finish this point - within the community that we have not solved this problem. Parents who are past pupils of the school cannot get their children into it or are having trouble doing so. We need to give people an assurance. This is unusual. Boys in Clonakilty have no other place to go. They cannot go to the convent, so they have to go to this school. It is a coeducational school and spaces are limited. Boys from Clonakilty and the surrounding areas may have to go to Roscarbery, Dunmanway or Bandon in order to attend school. That makes no sense whatsoever.