Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. At the last public meeting I was at - it was attended by candidates for the local elections from all parties and none - a commitment was made that the Minister would visit the school. I know what the Minister of State is saying, that he will visit the school in the next academic year, but how long is a piece of string? I know he visited some schools in the same constituency this morning. I was not invited to join any of those visits. I will make the point, which I made at the public meeting, that when the Minister visits St. Paul's, everyone who is involved in supporting the school, including the teachers and the pupils, should be at that meeting. This has gone on for so long.

I have also sought a meeting with the Department in Tullamore, and I was quite shocked when the meeting was turned down. I was told I had to go to the Minister's office to get him to agree to a meeting. The Minister's office came back to me and said there was no need for a meeting. I took the matter up with the Minister's adviser who I rang no less than three times. He said he would arrange the meeting, but there has still been no meeting. I then took the matter up with the Minister. Any Deputy who has concerns about a school in his or her constituency should be able to get a meeting with the Department. Particularly in my role as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Education and Skills, I was extremely disappointed I was not afforded the courtesy of a meeting.

Moving on to the second aspect I mentioned, the lease regarding the site has still not been finalised. The site has been looked at for more than ten years. I put this question in to the Minister's office on an ongoing basis and I get the very same response every time, and it is this:

Regarding the site, legal representatives for both parties are working together with a view to concluding the conveyancing. There has been significant progress recently on foot of close and intensive engagement from all parties.

I have been getting this response for over a year. It is simply not good enough. In one oral conversation I had with someone senior in the Department prior to Christmas or possibly just afterwards, they indicated to me that because there had been the delay caused by the court case, people took their eye off the ball and they would only start back looking at it then. This is absolutely disgraceful. The site has been looked at for over ten years and many issues regarding roads and access have been successfully dealt with in conjunction with Kildare County Council, so a lot of money has been spent on the site. There is, however, a real fear on the part of the community and the school, when they see there is no sign of anything being signed, that this will not be delivered. I have more faith than that, but it is a ridiculous situation and we absolutely need more elaboration and a timeline regarding the site.

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