Deputy Joan Burton has called on the Minister for Education to establish a task force as a matter of urgency to deal with the crisis in school places manifesting itself in the Dublin 15 area for the forthcoming school year, starting in September 2005.

Deputy Burton said: “I have been inundated with complaints from very distressed parents who, in good faith, put their children’s names down for their local school expecting to get a place, but who have now been told that because of the huge number of children looking for places that their child cannot be accommodated.

There is a crisis situation in three schools in particular, Mary Mother of Hope, Littlepace NS, Dublin 15, has only been able to accept some 90 children when over 200 children applied for places. St. Patrick’s NS, Diswellstown, similarly has only some 90 places to offer, while 150 to 160 children are looking for places there in junior infants come next September. The new Castaheany Educate Together School is also facing an uncertain September in relation to numbers and indeed in relation to the school site, which has not yet been acquired by the Minister for Education. Since last September the children from Castaheany have been bussed to Lucan. They are promised a pre-fab on a site at Castaheany by September but it is getting awfully tight to deliver a proper temporary school for the children unless the work starts very soon.

Other primary schools throughout Dublin 15 are inundated with requests from parents for places next September. The Minister for Education, Fianna Fail and the PDs have allowed the situation with primary school places in Dublin 15 once more to slide into chaos with huge upset for children and their parents.

What is happening is not acceptable in any country, least of all in a wealthy country such as Ireland. The Minister for Education appears to have a callous disregard for the needs of the children of Dublin 15. for Fianna Fail and the PDs the needs of the millionaire developers come first, while those of school children and their parents rank very far behind.”