asked the Minister for Education if he is aware that the schools at Drimnagh, County Dublin, are inadequate to cater for the large number of children in this area; and, if so, if he will secure alternative accommodation for these children.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Drimnagh School Accommodation.
I am aware that the schools at Drimnagh cannot accommodate all the children of school-going age at present in the district. There are two large assembly halls attached to these schools and I hope that arrangements will be made shortly to have them used as temporary classrooms. There is accommodation in Goldenbridge Convent National School and the Christian Brothers' School in Keogh Square for extra pupils and I have made representations to the city manager to have a temporary bridge erected across the Grand Canal so that children from the Drimnagh district might have easier access to these schools.
What success has attended the Minister's representations?
The matter is——
Under consideration?
We are in correspondence with the managers and the authorities of the Dublin Corporation as I have just stated.
Unless the Minister hurries up, most of those children will have passed the school-leaving age before facilities are available.
Facilities are available. This is not the first occasion on which it was indicated by me that accommodation was available in adjoining schools. Parents must understand the difficulties of building large new schools at the present time, and we can only do the best we can. If these assembly halls were made available, it would do a great deal to meet the situation.