There has been a fundamental change in the building programme of the Department of Education and Skills. The previous Government had, rightly, started to look forward at future demand for school places. It looked at census figures and children's allowance claims and started to develop a programme to build schools so that they would be in place in time for young people to start in education.

Unfortunately, a frightening development has emerged in that a developing school is required to have 281 students for a 11-class teacher school while a developed school is only required to have 276 pupils. Those different schools do not have the same pressure in terms of enrolment numbers. A developing school that has recently opened that is striving to develop its student cohort would be under excessive pressure.

A local school, Shellybanks school in Sandymount, located not far from my home, which has moved into brand new prefabs has a fire safety certificate to have 33 pupils in each classroom. The Department, in its wisdom, decided to reduce its teacher allocation by one, which means the pupils in one class will have to go into several other classrooms but that will put the school dangerously close to breaching its fire safety certificate. The pupils in one of its classes are being spread across several classrooms. If a teacher is absent, the principal no longer has the flexibility to spread the pupils in that class across a number of classrooms, which would result in a number of pupils being sent home on the day or the school being closed. That is simply not sustainable.

I planned to propose an amendment to the Order of Business asking the Minister for Education and Skills to come into the Seanad today to examine if consideration can be given to providing flexibility in that regard, not only with respect to the Shellybanks school, but every developing school across the country, as they are under particular pressure as they develop. I will put forward an amendment to the Order of Business in that regard.

I commend Senator Swanick on raising the issue of air quality. He is correct in highlighting it is an issue not only in Dublin but in small towns across the country where dirty coal has not been banned. Exhaust pollution from diesel engines poses a particular problem in our cities.

Is the Senator proposing to move that amendment to the Order of Business today?

I am moving that amendment today.

Will the Senator clarify his amendment?

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister for Education and Skills would come into the House today to discuss that issue.

To spell out what?

To spell out the way developing schools are being treated compared with established schools with respect to pupil-teacher allocations.

Thank you.

I am sorry for not being clear enough on that.

That is okay.

We have already exceeded the limits set in the World Health Organization's air quality standards, particularly in terms of exhaust pollution from diesel engines. My information is that we will exceed the European standards in January with respect to those limits. There is no question of our exceeding them, that is definite. I have talked to the Environmental Protection Agency about its additional monitoring. We are already in breach of those standards. The data on that has just not been delivered. We will be open to hundreds of millions of euro in fines from the EU as standards have been laid down. We need to move quickly on this issue. I welcome the raising of the issue today.

What Senator McDowell said about the housing crisis is correct. I am delighted he is moving closer to Berlin than Boston in his economic outlook because it is very true that-----

Where is Victor going?

-----one cannot build communities, houses and cities-----

The old PDs.

-----by having only a market economy.

The Senator will be going forward for election.

I call Senator O'Reilly.