It is now clear that the former Minister for Education, Deputy Séamus Brennan, committed a gross fraud on the Knocklyon community in November last. For his own electoral purposes, he circulated a letter dated 13 November 1992 stating that he had sanctioned the construction of Knocklyon Community School being "a 400 pupil school with first year intake scheduled for September 1994". The letter continued that he had instructed his Department to immediately begin the process and named consultants for the project. It stated:
An amount of £250,000 has been included in the Department of Education Estimates for 1993 to enable the project to proceed. The school is scheduled to be built in two stages and will be funded over the financial period 1993-95.
Following the circulation of this letter, I warned the local community to be cautious as at that time no Government spending Estimates had been finalised, approved or agreed for 1993 and it seemed to me that the Minister's letter was grossly misleading. Nevertheless, it was my hope that it was a prelude to the school being constructed.
Subsequently, a letter was circulated by Deputy Brennan, signed by a civil servant in the Department of Education, Mr. Noel Montayne, detailing plans for the construction of the school with a hand-written note added on by the then Minister accusing me of questioning his "integrity on the Knocklyon school project". Sadly, I was right to do so.
It is now clear that my words of caution were correctly voiced. On 11 March 1993 the Minister for Education stated that the school was not included in the 1993 capital programme and is now clear that no construction will start in 1993.
There is no indication that the construction of the school will commence in 1994.
The 11 March 1993 was the first Education Question Time after the general election. In the days preceding it, knowing that he was about to be publically caught with his trousers down, Deputy Brennan who is now a junior Minister, engaged in a face-saving correspondence with the Minister for Education, making a pretence that she had in some way reversed a final decision made by the Government last November. The media story that emerged following the Dáil Question Time was one of a row between Deputy Brennan and the present Minister for Education and was portrayed by him as a struggle between Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party with the former Minister being in some way let down by the current Minister.
The truth is, of course, different. The truth is that no final spending plans of the Department of Education for 1993 were approved by Government in either October or November 1992 and no such plans could have been approved until some days immediately prior to the budget. This was confirmed in an answer to a Dáil Question on Tuesday of this week by the current Minister for Education.
The present Minister is being blamed by Deputy Brennan, and his supporters in Knocklyon, for what has taken place. It is clear, of course, that the current Minister has no commitment to the construction of Knocklyon community school. It is also clear, however, that Deputy Brennan was simply involved last autumn in a piece of political chicanery for his own electoral advantage. His commitment to the construction of Knocklyon community school was as much of a political illusion as were the trees planted some years ago by Deputy Ray Burke on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party the day before the Dublin West by-election which were mysteriously dug up and removed when the count was complete.
Instead of engaging in a phoney interparty war with the current Minister for Education, Deputy Brennan should show some humility and come into this House and apologise to the people of Knocklyon for his conduct. He should also explain how a letter signed by an official of the Department of Education came to be written and used by him for electoral purposes, the contents of which have now been proved false. The present Minister should also explain to this House what took place and should tell the House and the people of Knocklyon whether she or Minister Brennan is telling the truth about the events of recent months. It is unfortunate that the Minister for Education is not here and that the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Aylward, has been sent in to bat this evening. No doubt, he will provide protection for Minister Brennan.
Parents in Knocklyon are entitled to know the true story and whether there is any realistic possibility of this Government constructing the community school that has been badly needed for so many years. We should know the true plans of the Government, not just for 1993 but for the rest of its term, so that parents are in a position to take the necessary decisions for the future schooling of their children. The future education of the children of Knocklyon should not be placed at risk by Government politicians who are either unwilling or incapable of telling them the true story.
