Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending this important Topical Issue debate. The relocation of Curraghmore national school in Mullingar should be a good news story for the locality. However, it has become frustrating for pupils, teachers and parents. Breaking point is long past for all those involved in the process. There have been nine revised programmes of works and nine false dates for the completion of delivery, including September 2018, October 2018, December 2018, April 2019, June 2019, July 2019, September 2019 and now October 2019. Each date brought a false dawn. Parents must now put in place contingency measures because they are being advised that the school will not be delivered for new students in September 2019. Of the 287 pupils, 47 are going off site. Those going to Kinnegad have special needs and are some of the most vulnerable children in society. The programme changes are causing their parents frustration at a time when certainty in their daily lives is being cried out for.

Some €7,500 per month is being spent at Curraghmore national school on ten portakabins. The Department is renting out the St. Loman's Mullingar GAA club to accommodate children. There is also a cost associated in going to Kinnegad. What of the human cost? Some parents must pay for additional afterschool care because, even though they already have children attending the school, their children who are new students are being moved to a different site. This is adding to the pressure of getting students to school, which is wholly unacceptable in light of the series of completion dates. To be fair, the school's delivery has been managed in an appropriate manner by Westmeath County Council. Mr. Murty Hanly, who is the school's project manager, has worked day and night to deliver it, often at the expense of his personal time, including family holidays. He has gone step by step to try to deliver the school on time. The principal, Mr. Michael Molloy, and the school's staff are also frustrated.

I commend the Minister on visiting Mullingar and meeting the board of management in an attempt to progress this issue, but we must pursue the developer morning, noon and night for the project's delivery. There is a national outcry because a number of school projects are late owing to a gap in tender law. We must examine the legislation. When a new tender is drafted, a company that is consistently late with its projects can still apply for it. We need a traffic light system whereby past performance in projects is measured. As legislators, we must ensure that the system is up to the mark.

Speaking as someone who has followed this project for more than a decade, the series of bumps in the road have been frustrating. Now that the school is at a stage of 80% completion, there is a further delay. My colleague, Councillor Andrew Duncan, has secured this issue as a permanent item on the agenda at Mullingar municipal district meetings, with councillors getting updates for the parents, pupils and staff on a monthly basis.

I appeal to the Minister to keep the pressure on the developer. I cannot express enough the frustration and outcry in my community concerning what should be a brilliant news story, namely, the delivery of a new state-of-the-art 16-teacher school for Westmeath, which will be a major asset to the area.

See this speech in context