asked the Minister for Education (a) when the building of the vocational schools at Whitehall and Killester will commence; and (b) what the capacity of each school will be.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Provision of City Vocational Schools.
The City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee is at present engaged on the preliminary arrangements in connection with the provision of two new regional schools, one at Clogher Road, Crumlin, and the other at Aldboro' Parade, North Strand, and for the provision of extensions to the existing premises at 14 Upper Mount Street and 3 Great Denmark Street. Until considerable progress has been made towards the completion of these it will not be feasible to give an estimated date for the commencement of the building of schools at Whitehall and Killester.
As regards the capacity of these latter schools nothing definite has as yet been finally decided upon and the matter is still the subject of correspondence between my Department and the committee.
Is the Minister aware that the erection of these schools, particularly the one at Killester, was proposed several years ago, and that the population in these areas is increasing rapidly? In fact, it has increased very much since the proposal was first made. I would ask the Minister to see that this matter is attended to in a more urgent way than apparently it is, judging from the reply.
This matter was the subject of discussion a short time ago between myself and the representatives of the Vocational Education Committee in Dublin. I think that any final decision as to what type of school, or what size of school, would be built at Killester would have to wait until we had full experience of the Whitehall position, following the building of the school there.