Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I will stop Mr. Loftus there. I know these things well. A site in Celbridge under the control of NAMA was identified in 2017. There is St. Raphael’s special school. These are the most vulnerable children. It is not a question of adding an extra classroom to an existing school, rather this is one-to-one care. The school is falling down around the staff and pupils. St. Patrick’s primary school has been located on a GAA field since it was established. It is a full school that has been operating in prefabs since it was established. Celbridge Community School is also located on a temporary site. It is fully built, with not an inch of extra space available. As stated, the site was identified in 2017. There were problems with acquiring it. We do not even know when it will go to planning. The Department will be paying for temporary and substandard buildings in all of those cases. The most substandard temporary building is used for the children with the greatest need in terms of just how compromised they are. Is there joined-up thinking with regard to, for example, knowing in 2017 that there would be a problem with the site and it might need to be abandoned because it would not deliver in the timeframe? Is there any of that kind of thinking or does the Department stick with that one site and wait until it comes, irrespective of the need of the area or the amount it is paying out, for example, in prefabs?