Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The process is no more complex than what the Minister of State and the Department are making it. In his response, the Minister of State said it is going slowly but the reason for this is how it has been handled. The Department asked Donegal Education and Training Board, ETB, to identify possible sites and recommend one. When this process concluded, the Department decided to start all over again and asked Donegal County Council to do the job instead. This is the fault of the Minister of State. It is his doing and his lack of organisation which has led to these delays and to it being complex. If the Department, the Minister of State and the Minister had their act together on this then whoever they wanted involved should have been so from the outset, such as Donegal County Council and the education and training board doing parallel assessments. While doing its assessment, Donegal ETB worked very closely with Donegal County Council but the Minister of State went back to the start. It is the Department, the Minister, the Minister of State and the Government who are stalling the project. We need to see it progressed.

Unfortunately, time is running out for this Government to demonstrate the required leadership because it only has three or four months left. The staff, students and parents of these three schools are suffering the daily frustration of working on sites that are not purpose-built schools.

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