Coláiste Pheig Sayers Teo. applied in May 1991 to the Department of Education for recognition of a Coláiste Samhraidh in Baile an Lochaigh, Baile na nGall. The college at Baile an Lochaigh is already built at the owners cost, with the help of an AIB mortgage on a site that was provided free of charge. There are no plans, nor indeed is it the intention of the owners, to seek any public funding for the £25,000 construction costs. The board of Coláiste Pheig Sayers Teo. went ahead with the building following assurances from the Minister for Education, Deputy Davern, that there would be no problem regarding recognition. Most of the students who stay in and around the Baile an Lochaigh area would be within walking distance of this new coláiste which I understand is the only purpose-built coláiste samhaidh in the west Kerry Gaeltacht. It would be senseless to bus students past the door of an empty building in Baile an Lochaigh to a less suitable building in Ballyferriter, nine miles away. It would mean that the facilities in Ballyferriter would be stretched to the limit to cope with students from both Baile an Lochaigh and Ballyferriter, all, incidentally, being students of Coláiste Pheig Sayers.
One of the big problems with Irish colleges is lack of classroom accommodation and proper facilities and that ranges from Donegal to west Kerry. In west Kerry classes have been held in garages, changing rooms, factories, community halls and so on. Coláiste Pheig Sayers have had to use disused Údarás na Gaeltachta factories for classes. The lands at Baile an Lochaigh are comprised of 19 acres, which gives ample room to develop playing fields, tennis courts and so on, if the school authorities get recognition from the Department of Education.
Since 1988, attendance at Coláiste Pheig Sayers Teo. has increased from 40 pupils to 400 in 1991. This is an indication of the quality of its courses and the emphasis on high standards. I would remind the Minister that this college which is already built has full planning permission from Kerry County Council and has the backing of all the people in the parish. In order for Coláiste Pheig Sayers to function effectively and to get a fair crack of the whip the authorities need this recognition as a matter of urgency.
I wish to mention precedents for Irish colleges being sited within yards of each other — in the seventies in Cape Clear Island; in the eighties Coláiste Chiaráin and Coláiste Cholumba in An Cheathrú Rua and in 1991 in Ballyferriter itself. Minister, please have this college recognised just for the sake of the Irish language.