I raised this matter on the day of my election in 1982 in the arrangements the then leader of Fianna Fáil, Mr. Haughey, made with me in exchange for support in forming a Government. I am sure most Members remember that occasion. It was such an essential demand that I included it in response to those who elected me and because the area had been neglected for so long. I refer to the need for a second level community college in the north inner city.
Since 1982 plans have been drawn up for a community college. They were revised on several occasions but have remained on the shelf. No Minister saw fit to approve the plan. The reason approval has not been given is that the site for the college, which Dublin Corporation made available, is located in the poorest urban area in the State, an area bedevilled by drug abuse, high unemployment and other social problems. The only way children in that area will break the spiral of poverty is through education.
Some years ago a research consultant, Kieran McKeown, was commissioned by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul to report on the area. He stated:
...44 per cent of the population of the north inner city of Dublin left school before the age of 15. This is significantly higher than the 27 per cent and the 29 per cent who left school before the age of 15 in the Greater Dublin Area and Ireland in that year respectively.
He also pointed out that the level of non-attendance is higher in the north inner city than in Dublin city and gave the scandalous statistics that a mere 1 per cent of children living in the Dublin 1 postal district go onto third level education.
A decision was taken by the Government that fees should be abolished for those affluent people who attended college. It is a great scandal that not only do children in north inner city Dublin not go on to third level education but many of them do not get through second level. That is not a criticism of the many primary schools in the area or the teachers who are so committed. It is a tragedy to see the teaching staff and principals of those schools plead with the Department of Education to retain a teacher or provide an additional resource or remedial teacher. It should be a matter of public policy that schools in an area with so many problems should be given all the resources they require.
It is the view of all educationalists who have examined the problems in this area that a second level college specifically geared to the children in that area is necessary. When the children leave primary school they go to schools around the area and outside of it. Many of them leave after a year or two. If the community had the political muscle and ability to use the media to highlight their cause, the school would have been provided a long time ago but it is in the nature of disadvantage that such communities do not have that influence.
The Minister for Education has become the champion of the affluent third level student. This is an opportunity for her to show that she believes in social justice and equality of educational opportunity. She should act on that belief by giving the approval to go ahead for this community college.
