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

I have several questions that require clarity. Only two of the 17 sites have permanent accommodation earmarked. There are at least two that do not even have temporary accommodation either.

As I understand it, the Minister does not have contracts signed, sealed and delivered for all other sites where the need for temporary accommodation for schools has been identified. When will the results of the patronage process be announced for the four schools which the Minister referred for consideration? Parents took part in a vote during the summer and do not know who the patrons of the schools will be, where they will be located or where they should apply to enrol their children in them. When will the patronage process start for the other schools that are due to open next September? My daughter, Sineád, is at home celebrating her 11th birthday. We are going around second level schools with a view to deciding which one she will attend. Parents are asking me where the new secondary school will be located in the Drogheda-Laytown catchment area. I do not know the answer to that question and I am the Opposition spokesperson on education. I do not know the answer because the Government has not given the answer to it. The same applies to the new primary school in Dunshaughlin which is due to open next September and on which there is no information available. Regardless of what is happening in the background, the Minister needs to get much more information out to parents on these schools.

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