I thank the Chair for allowing me raise this matter on the Adjournment. It goes without saying that in the past 40 years or so the population of County Kildare has increased dramatically, having more than doubled. This is evidenced by the fact that County Kildare, once a three seater constituency, has been divided into two three seater constituencies. Likewise, the education sector has increased dramatically in terms of scale and spread throughout the county. What was a very small VEC area of responsibility in the 1960s has become an intricate network of highly sophisticated VEC schools throughout the county, and I refer specifically to north Kildare, my constituency. In this regard it should be noted that with an increase in responsibilities, the number of staff to be administered to and the number of calls to the VEC, there is an obvious strain on the administration centre.
In the recent past there has been evidence of this strain which has been brought to the attention of the current and previous Ministers. We are now at the stage where industrial action is being taken, which is justifiable on the basis that the number of staff in the VEC service in County Kildare is inadequate to deal with the workload. I ask the Minister to personally intervene and ascertain to what extent he can alleviate the problem with a view to ensuring that the potential hardship to those most likely to be affected is averted. I refer to those who are paid on a weekly basis, namely, cleaners in various schools, part-time staff, be they teachers or administrative staff, and secretaries in schools and VEC headquarters. None of these people will be paid in the current climate unless matters are resolved.
I hope the Minister can offer some resolution to the problem. The matter has been in need of attention for some considerable time, it is not the fault of the current Minister that things have developed in this way. I hope on this occasion that the matter will be finally and satisfactorily resolved from the point of view of all concerned.