I thank you, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment as this is not the first time I tabled this question. I thank also the Minister for coming into the House to reply to an issue which will loom on the horizon over the next few years, not only in the Dundalk area but nationally — the difficulties experienced by parents in securing places for their children in second level schools. I understand that because of a certain hump in the population graph there will be difficulties in getting pupils into second level schools not only in September 1993 but, more particularly, in 1994 and in following years. I understand that in the Dundalk area alone approximately 150 pupils will have extreme difficulty in securing places in second level schools. This is already evident in the efforts of parents to secure places for their children. Some parents have applied to all the schools in the Dundalk area and have been refused on the basis that there is not enough accommodation for the projected number of pupils. Therefore, I ask the Minister to liaise with the principals of the major schools in the greater Dundalk area in an effort to resolve this problem. The principals are concerned about this and estimate that approximately 100 boys and 50 girls will have difficulty in securing places, particularly from 1994 onwards.
I do not know the solution to this problem. Perhaps the Minister and her Department are aware of the difficulties that lie ahead. Obviously, it would not be feasible to build massive extensions to existing schools if this problem is to last for only a number of years. However, we must make plans for additional accommodation in the next few years to take into account the huge influx of pupils to schools right across the country. It is not acceptable that pupils or parents should be told that they should enrol in schools in adjoining towns. That is not feasible, particularly in a constituency such as Louth. Again, I thank the Minister for coming into the House and I await her reply.
