Madam, - The statement by the Department of Education, reported by Kathryn Holmquist in your edition of September 16th, that "it was Educate Together's responsibility to find a site" for its new school in Donabate/Portrane is misleading.
It also illustrates once again the abject failure of State planning for schools.
Fingal County Council has already reserved a site for a school in Donabate. It is on Corballis Road and was reserved at the bequest of the Department of Education. Educate Together, together with other school patron bodies, participated in this process through a liaison committee set up precisely for the purpose. So the issue is not to "find a site". The real question is: "Why has this site not been prepared in time to address the needs of the rapidly expanding population in this area?"
The answer to this question will reveal that our Government does not consider it has the responsibility to provide schools for the thousands of families that it is encouraging to move into rapidly developing urban areas. As a result, despite school sites being reserved - sometimes for many years - nothing is done to ensure that they can be used on time.
Your readers may be astounded to discover that the only way that schools can be provided in areas of rapid housing growth is for voluntary groups of parents to combine to set them up and bear the full cost of convincing the State of their need. I hope they will be outraged to find out that the State then insists that such groups have the responsibility to source accommodation for a new school for "seven to 10 years".
This approach has resulted in the majority of the new schools that have opened in the past 10 years being forced to start in scout dens, rugby clubs, hostels, community halls, converted stables, and even the function rooms of golf clubs. Rarely if ever have they been able to open in appropriate buildings. Such events have made our system of school opening a laughing stock in the developed world.
It is this attitude that has caused the emerging crisis of school accommodation in Donabate; and if it is not corrected it will inevitably create similar expensive crises in all developing urban areas of the country.
It is time that central and local government took responsibility for the educational infrastructure that is necessary for our future generations. - Yours, etc.,
PAUL ROWE, Chief Executive, Educate Together, Oak Drive, Dublin 12.