Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister give a timeframe? How long will this process be? How long will it take? We have all been aware of the process at local level. We are keen for this to be done as soon as possible. Certainly, I have no wish to interfere in the commercial side of the Department or put pressure there.

In situations such as this and others that will arise as we need to build more schools in rapidly developing areas, the Minister will need to consider making greater use of compulsory purchase orders which have been used on a number of occasions for schools. He cannot just leave schools hanging. This has happened and should increasingly become part of the architecture of how we provide schools. If the Department can identify a suitable site, these powers are available and should be used. A school - a school such as this in particular - is a central part of the town. For the entire Church of Ireland community in south Meath, with its church, it is a crucial hub. We spoke earlier about school admissions and these schools must be protected. It is not enough for us just to speak about school admissions and protecting ethos, we need to invest in them to ensure they have the facilities they need.

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