Second level pupils from Dunboyne basically have nowhere to go as no school will guarantee access to second level schooling for them. Traditionally, Dunboyne students attended either the community college in Dunshaughlin or the second level school in Maynooth. However, Dunshaughlin community school is no longer accepting Dunboyne pupils because they are outside the catchment area, the same applies in the case of Maynooth. Dunboyne children sat the entrance examination for Maynooth but when the authorities there found they had enough children from Maynooth they simply turned the Dunboyne students away. In the past Dunboyne students used to attend the second level school in Coolmine but it is no longer accepting Dunboyne students either unless they had relatives there prior to 1989.
Until very recently the Dominican Convent in Cabra was accepting Dunboyne pupils, but I now understand that of the 22 Dunboyne pupils who have made application to the Dominican Convent the school will be able to accept only ten. Likewise, there is a problem for Dunboyne pupils trying to obtain entry to Corduff. I gather also that St. Declan's school on the Navan Road is no longer accepting Dunboyne students. Basically, no school is obliged to accept Dunboyne students at present. Dunboyne families have been divided in the sense that older children have gone to one school, younger children have gone to another school and children now coming up to second level do not know where they are going to go. From the point of view of developing parent-school links, which are very important in education, the position is impossible. There is no school to which Dunboyne families can give their loyalty or support in terms of extra curricular activities or in which adult education facilities can be developed.
In 1985 the Minister for Education of the time, Mrs. Gemma Hussey, sanctioned the provision of a second level school in Dunboyne and her successor, Mr. Pat Cooney, initiated negotiations to purchase a site in 1986. In 1987 the incoming Minister for Education, Minister Mary O'Rourke, cancelled that decision. Seven years later, Minister O'Rourke's successor, Deputy Noel Davern, reversed that decision and agreed that a second level school should be provided in Dunboyne, thereby reinstating the original 1985 decision. Deputy Davern said that in that general area a post primary school would first be provided in Hartstown, to be followed by the provision of a school in Dunboyne. The school in Hartstown has been provided — initially in temporary accommodation, I understand, with permanent buildings to be provided. Virtually no progress has been made in the provision of a school for Dunboyne, however. The former Minister last replied on the matter on 10 February, indicating that his Department was examining the suitability of a particular site in Dunboyne and was awaiting a valuation report. I am not aware that any progress has been made since then. In the meantime, however, the bishop, Dr. Michael Smith, offered to be the patron of a diocesan mixed secondary school in Dunboyne on that site, adjacent to the community centre, where it would use facilities.
The site is at present owned by the diocese and would be made available free of charge. The bishop also offered the provision of a local contribution of 10 per cent. My understanding is that the Department has been reluctant to accept this offer, notwithstanding considerable financial attractions and the ability to bring forward the project much faster than might be the case if additional help from the diocesan authorites were not available.
The critical position now is that parents literally have nowhere to send their children. The Minister of State at the Department of Education, Minister Aylward, is in the Chamber and I wish to ask him three questions. First, what school will guarantee places for second level Dunboyne students who are leaving primary school this June? Second, when will the second level school be built? Third, what is the Minister's view of the offer made by the diocesan authorites of a free site and a 10 per cent contribution for a mixed secondary school on that site?
