John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I might help him by providing a couple of those examples. Lucan Community College has been looking for its extension which has been going through the process at this stage for more than a decade. Holy Family Community School in Rathcoole was identified in 2004 as needing a new 1,000-student building within seven years. According to the most recent reply, it is at stage 2b. The irony is that its identification as requiring a new school and significant upgrades means it has not been able to avail of the summer works scheme since 2004. Divine Mercy senior and junior national school in Clondalkin had a design team appointed in January 2004. The most recent reply from the Department states that it remains at stage 2b. The concern is clearly indicated by the principal who wrote last winter as follows:

After the past two days rain, the roof in the prefabs has five serious leaks. I have had to evacuate and relocate a class of eight and nine year olds to another substandard classroom as the caretaker endeavours to fix the problems. As we are only at the start of the winter, I am at a loss to know what to do. Should I have the whole roof repaired at a substantial cost or is it to be razed to the ground.

These are the ongoing problems schools face while waiting to progress. If what was involved was a new build, most principals believe it would have happened already.

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