Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----but it is not a date. I understand it is positive, but it is not a date. The Minister of State will appreciate that as we head towards the summer break when the kids will be heading off, it would be very helpful if we were heading into the summer knowing there was a definitive date. Reference was made to a potential permanent site option. My understanding is a permanent site option has been identified and that this process is under way. The Minister of State also referred to clarifying some technical issues. I appreciate she will not have the information with her here but she might provide to me in writing what exactly those issues are. If there are stumbling blocks and the staff, parents or any of the local representatives can help in any way with that, we certainly will because there is great affection for the school in our local area.

It would be preferable if we could identify a date. The Minister of State will appreciate, and she alluded to it in terms of the pausing of the process, that it is something that has had a lot of false starts which have not been helpful. There are five children for whom there may not be a place to go to school. They are children with special needs. They are the children we should be looking after the most. They and their parents do not have sight of what school the kids will be going to in September. There is definitely a need. My fear is by the time the school is built, the need will have outstripped even the new school. The Minister of State might advise me, even if it is in writing, of the technical issues and confirm that a permanent site option has been identified, not a potential permanent site option. My understanding is the site has been identified.

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