During the previous Dáil, I raised the plight of Clonkeen College in Dún Laoghaire on multiple occasions. It is a non-fee paying, publicly funded school run by the Christian Brothers, who have decided to sell off the school playing fields to a private property developer. Since the previous Government would not listen, I ask the current Government to intervene to stop the sale of school pitches that have had heavy amounts of public investment, where there is an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit that depends on those playing areas and where there is a local sports clubs with a chronic shortage of playing pitch space throughout the area. These will all lose out to essentially benefit a private property developer. If it is not acceptable for most people that a religious charity should decide the future of the national maternity hospital, it is equally unacceptable that publicly funded schools run by religious charities should flog off school facilities to property developers. Will the Taoiseach do something about it?

The Christian Brothers should not be selling off those playing fields. They should be made available to the people, clubs and young people in the area. That is the proper thing to do. Do I have the legal power to enforce that? I do not believe I do. I will certainly follow this matter up with the Minister for Education to see what persuasion can be applied but in situations like that, given the scarcity of amenity and recreational land in such locations, it should be retained for the purposes of recreation and sport for the local community.

Do something about it then.

I cannot. We do not run a dictatorship.

Where there is a will there is a way.