asked the Minister for Education if he will authorise and approve an extension to the proposed new vocational school in Killybegs, County Donegal, as it has now been established that the school will not adequately cater for the projected enrolment when it is completed and, as the work is still at a very early stage, it should not be difficult at this point to incorporate the extension as part of the overall project, rather than have to provide a new extension when the school is built.

The new school will have a nominal capacity for 300 pupils as against the current enrolment level of 281. The application for an enlargement of the new school is under consideration in my Department. Should an extension be approved it will be a matter for the building unit of my Department in association with the VEC to decide whether it should be provided as a separate contract or as an extension to the existing contract.

Is the Minister of State aware that there is no room on the site, when a new school is completed, for further prefabs? Apart from one prefab which was provided in 1985, all existing prefabs have been there since 1973. There is no permanent accommodation for rental in or adjacent to the school. It is imperative that due consideration be given to the request made by the VEC and by others in relation to Killybegs. Secondly, were statistics provided by the Department of Education given due consideration when provision was made in Kellybegs for a 300 pupil school? The projections are that by 1987 there will be 374 pupils there.

The estimated cost of this new school is £1.246 million. I agree that the existing accommodation is very bad. It is all prefabs which have been there for a long time. I want to say to Deputy Coughlan that the planning section of the Department are actively considering the application for an enlargement of that new school. In that context, it is not always as simple as it might seem as to whether it should be an extension of the existing contract or the tendering of a new one. I would hope to be in a position to give a decision with regard to the application for an enlargement in a short time. I agree that an early decision in this matter is very desirable.