Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is correct that the situation is not satisfactory. The school is in a golf club on the Kildalkey Road, which as he knows is a country road. There are no footpaths and the school is located a couple of miles from the town. The school will have 60 pupils this September.

I am pleased the Minister will bring the matter to the attention of the officials because one of the biggest bugbears has been the lack of communication between the Department and Trim Educate Together national school about what has been happening, especially as we were advised that it would be a 14-week refurbishment period.

My office was in contact with the principal, Karen Reilly, yesterday and she said that if a parent of a prospective pupil asks how long the school will be in the temporary accommodation and when it will be able to move into the new permanent school that she would not be able to answer the question. The school was under the impression as well that funding would be provided through the redress scheme for the development of the school site. The bottom line is that there is a campus available in the town that is ready to go and which provides the necessary campus facilities for a growing town centre.

That is where the people are, that is where the town centre is, and that is where Trim Educate Together wants to be. Being out a country road a couple of miles in a golf club is not a satisfactory situation for the parents, the children and the staff who want to educate their children in the Trim Educate Together school. There may be a bit of a misunderstanding with the redress scheme. This was offered by a religious order as part of its contribution to the general redress scheme. It does not mean that a redress fund is available to upgrade the school. It was a contribution by the order to meet some of the commitments it made to contribute to the cost of redress. The works involved in this particular location appear to be more complex than was first envisaged. I will, however, bring the concern to the attention of my officials and I can see the point the Deputy is making.

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