Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's commitment that this is a top priority. That is what the parents, pupils and staff in St. Paul's want to hear. The principal and the chair of the board of management were resassured after meeting officials from the Department last month. Nevertheless, these are exceptional circumstances. I do not think I have ever come across a school project which was hit by so many delays for various reasons over the years. Just when we thought we could see light with construction commencing in the third quarter of 2019, as hoped, this latest legal challenge, which is outside the Minister's control, has caused further delay. We now need more prefabs in September, but there is no space on the grounds. What was once a hallway is now a classroom. The staff are excellent and there is a great spirit among the pupils in this school but many of these pupils entered first year thinking by the end of their six years, they would see a new school, and are starting to wonder if this will be the case. They require reassurance that this is the Department's top priority and everything will be done to progress it as soon as possible.

See this speech in context