I call Deputy Hayes to raise his matter.
Adjournment Debate. - Departmental Properties.
Mr. Hayes
I have no difficulty waiting for the Minister to come to the House.
I hope the Deputy is not waiting as long as we have been waiting for the Tánaiste to come to Laois-Offaly.
The Minister of State is taking this debate.
Mr. Hayes
The Chair is affirming that the Department of Education and Science is on a go-slow tonight. This is a Wednesday evening and the House is still sitting.
The Deputy has five minutes.
Mr. Hayes
I will only require three to make my remarks. I am not here to listen to a prepared script which some nameless official will shout to me in five minutes. I protest to the Chair. It is Wednesday night and I am stuck here until about 10.20 p.m. and the two Ministers concerned are on a nixer.
That is not relevant to the debate. The Deputy should commence his contribution.
Mr. Hayes
It will not even take me five minutes. I often wonder why we go through this charade, but I will give it a lash tonight. This matter relates to a site in my constituency which the Department of Education and Science purchased in 1979-80 and which has been developed into playing pitches which I have been seeking for the past six months to get the Department to permit local schools and teams to use.
At a recent meeting of South Dublin County Council, I was informed that some years ago the council carried out works on behalf of the Department of Education and Science to upgrade the lands at the school. It was understood that pending any development of the lands by the Department this land would be available for allocation as playing pitches by the council to local clubs. That was on 17 April this year. On 7 March I was informed by the Department that the site had been acquired by it for the provision of a second level school and that no final decision in relation to such a school had been taken. Pending a final decision in that regard, the Department said that it would be inappropriate to develop the site for any alternative use.
The Minister of State need not read his script because I am not interested in hearing it. I want him to go to the Department of Education and Science and ask whatever section is responsible for the site to allow the local community to use these public lands which have been lying unused for the past 20 years while the Department procrastinates as to whether it wishes to build a secondary school. The land has been maintained by South Dublin County Council and I want it to be used by the local community and the two local schools whose pupils must travel five miles to their local pitches even though there is a perfect site behind the schools which could be available tomorrow morning. The council wishes to put up a few posts to allow the children to play there, but for some astonishing bureaucratic reason the Department of Education and Science does not wish to accede to the requests of the school managers, teachers, pupils and council.
Will the Minister of State use his good offices to cut through this bureaucratic nonsense and allow the children and the community to use these lands? The site is publicly owned and should be used for the right purposes until a decision is made about a new secondary school. I am seeking a decision which would permit my constituents to use those fine facilities as playing pitches.
I will respond to the debate as Minister of State with responsibility for science and technology at the Department of Education and Science. I am deputising for my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Woods. I welcome the opportunity to outline the position regarding the future use of the Department of Education and Science owned site at Kingswood Heights, Tallaght.
In response to housing developments in the 1970s, the Department purchased two sites in the Kilnamanagh-Kingswood Heights area with the intention of providing two post-primary schools. One of the sites is now the home of Coláiste de hIde, the all-Irish post-primary school in Tallaght. The other site at Kingswood Heights was never developed.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was considerable local demand for a post-primary school in the area. The arguments for a school were based on the lack of post-primary facilities in the immediate area rather than a shortage of places in post-primary schools in the vicinity of Castleview. A detailed analysis of the need for a post-primary school was undertaken by the planning section of the Department of Education and Science in 1996. This analysis showed that there was adequate post-primary provision within a reasonable distance of the proposed site. A recent review of the study has indicated that this position has not changed. Both primary and post-primary enrolments are in decline in the area.
Approaches have been made to the building unit of the Department by a number of interested parties regarding acquisition of the Kingswood Heights site or a portion thereof for alternative use. City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee has indicated an interest in acquiring a portion of the site to build new office accommodation for its staff. A proposal has also been made by South Dublin County Council for the use of the lands in question for playing pitches. Both are positive proposals.
No final decision in relation to the provision of a post-primary school on the Department's site at Kingswood Heights has been taken and, pending a decision, it would be inappropriate to make any commitment to dispose of the site at this time. However, as a representative of a political party committed to the development of sport to the highest levels, I will discuss the matter with my officials in the Department tomorrow and see what can be done to progress it. I hope the Deputy can endorse the development of sport in Ireland by supporting all the investment the Government wishes to make in the development of excellent facilities across the nation.